Top Diaries

Of Russian vodka and cheese-eating surrender monkeys | WaPo |

For over a year, RF has been slaughtering Ukrainians in Europe using the tricolor & V/Z swastika. An elite fashion house focused on "Russian nouveau riche" chose to publicly toy with the symbols of aggression.
Luxury smells better when it's drenched in blood, right @LouisVuitton? pic.twitter.com/I5lZ90n6RC
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) March 5, 2023

by Cat on Sun Mar 5th, 2023 at 11:50:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Mirroring Lvov's Own Fuzzinezz About Neo-Nazi's (none / 0)

The "Z" symbol has been pejoratively called a zwastika or zwaztika, in reference to the Nazi swastika, or pejoratively in Russian and Ukrainian as "ziga" (Russian: зига) in reference to Sieg Heil, by opponents of the war. Some Ukrainian officials and commenters on the Internet also started referring to Russia as Ruzzia or RuZZia (Russian: Роzzия or РоZZия; Ukrainian: Роzzія or РоZZія).

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 6th, 2023 at 08:22:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Vodka and Cheese-eating Surrender Monkeys (none / 0)

Of course the French under Sarkozy (Syria) and later Hollande (Syria) redeemed themselves by going to war and were on the side of the Obama/Biden ticket for retaliatory bombing after alleged use by Damascus of sarin gas in Ghouta. UK parliament voted David Cameron down to participate.

'Freedom fries' forgotten, U.S. and France team up on Syria | CNN - Sept. 2, 2013 |
Mon Dieu, how things change! A decade ago, France's opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq caused such disdain ...
Yet on Friday, as the United States tried to rally support for military intervention in Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry had only fond words for the French, calling them "our oldest ally."
Hollande, in turn, described the two nations as "close friends and allies."

France Is America's Oldest Ally and Enemy | WSJ Opinion |

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 6th, 2023 at 08:25:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Mirroring Lvov's Own Fuzzinezz About Neo-Nazi's (none / 0)

Assistance during the Revolutionary War was as an aberration in over a century and a half of hostility.

Pro-Russian advertisement of Louis Vuitton: Bankova reacted sharply
This is not the first time French fashion brands have been accused of covert Russian advertising
The French fashion house Louis Vuitton presented an advertisement for a new collection of women's clothing and jumped into a loud scandal: the brand used white, blue and red colors for the advertising campaign, supplementing them with the letter V. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the President's Office, loudly criticized the brand on Twitter .

Murdering their own ...

The Office of the President of Ukraine did not specify whether Kireyev's death was investigated or whether anyone was held responsible.

Collateral damage same as the one hundred massacred on the Maidan to make the coup d'état succeed.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 6th, 2023 at 08:27:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Ukranews | Ukrainian Internet Association Considers Introduction Of Automatic Blocking Of Internet Resources Illegal And Dangerous

This is stated in the association's appeal to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksii Danilov, head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) Vasyl Maliuk, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
"Order of the National Center for Operational and Technical Management of Telecommunications Networks of January 30, 2023 No. 67/850 "On the Implementation of the Phishing Domain Filtering System" establishes a centralized mechanism for automatically blocking of internet resources, declared as a phishing domain filtering system. In fact, this system can be easily used to block access to any internet resources," the appeal reads.
It is noted that in fact a centralized mechanism is being created for automatic blocking of an arbitrary list of internet resources by all Ukrainian providers.
[...]
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Ukraine is starting to collect data of users who tried to access banned sites.

by Cat on Tue Mar 7th, 2023 at 06:27:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 Slava Ukraini! (none / 1)

president.gov.ua

According to Article 40 of the Constitution of Ukraine and Article 23-1 of the Law of Ukraine" On the appeal of citizens" I considered the electronic petition No. 22/170958-ep "Officially rename the name "Russia" to "Moscow". Replace the term "Russian" with "Moscow", "Russian Federation" with "Moscow Federation", posted on the website of the Official Internet Representation of the President of Ukraine on November 23, 2022, which was supported by more than 25,000 citizens.
According to the second part of Article 19 of the Constitution of Ukraine, state authorities and local self-government bodies, their officials are obliged to act only on the basis, within the limits of authority and in the manner provided by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine. The legal bases of relations regarding the names of geographical objects, which include, in particular, the state, as well as the normalization, accounting, registration, use and preservation of geographical names are regulated by the Law of Ukraine dated May 31, 2005 No. 2604-IV "On Geographical Names" (hereinafter referred to as the Law). The names of geographical objects used in Ukraine, including those of other countries of the world, are subject to accounting and state registration by a specially authorized body of the executive power on geographical names. The procedure for creating and maintaining the State Register of Geographical Names, as well as providing information on the establishment of geographical names for their registration, is determined by the Regulation on the State Register of Geographical Names, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (Article 9 of the Law). The above-mentioned proposal also has international legal aspects.
The Statistical Department of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the UN Secretariat has developed and published in the Statistical publication documents, Series M No. 49 "Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use" (hereinafter - Standard M 49), a list of countries and regions containing the names of the relevant countries and regions in alphabetical order, their three-digit numerical codes used for statistical purposes by the Statistical Division of the UN Secretariat, and their three-digit alphabetic codes determined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Standard M 49 was taken into account when developing the List of codes of the countries of the world for statistical purposes, approved by the order of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine dated January 8, 2020 No. 32....

innernational legal genius
DOJ | Readout of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland's Trip to Ukraine, 3 Mar 2023
"...This trip is an important part of the Department of Justice's unwavering commitment to the freedom of Ukraine...."

by Cat on Sat Mar 11th, 2023 at 04:47:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

frankenpost | World Criminal Court in The Hague issues arrest warrant for Putin, 17 Mar

The Hague - The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. This was announced by the court in The Hague on Friday. Putin is allegedly responsible for the deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied territories to Russia. The judges had granted a request by the chief prosecutor Karim Khan to issue an arrest warrant.
It is the first arrest warrant issued by the court in connection with alleged war crimes in Ukraine. The court also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Lwova-Belova, the Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights. She is also accused of war crimes in connection with the deportation of Ukrainian children.
Putin should be called to account as commander. The suspicion is justified that he insufficiently controlled his civilian or military subordinates. The exact text of the arrest warrants will not be released to protect victims and witnesses, the court said.
[...]

by Cat on Fri Mar 17th, 2023 at 05:00:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

ICC-CPI | Situation in Ukraine: ICC judges issue arrest warrants against [sic] Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, 17 Mar

[...]
The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, (i) for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), and (ii) for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility (article 28(b) of the Rome Statute).
[...]
The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, (i) for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), and (ii) for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility (article 28(b) of the Rome Statute).
[...]
The Chamber considered that the warrants are secret in order to protect victims and witnesses and also to safeguard the investigation. Nevertheless, mindful that the conduct addressed in the present situation is allegedly ongoing, and that the public awareness of the warrants may contribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimes, the Chamber considered that it is in the interests of justice to authorise the Registry to publicly disclose the existence of the warrants, the name of the suspects, the crimes for which the warrants are issued, and the ["]modes of liability["] as established by the Chamber.
[Video statement of ICC President Judge Piotr Hofmański]

Politico.eu.com | ICC issues arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over child deportations from Ukraine

Ukraine regards the seizure of children as part of an attempted genocide, but Moscow does not recognize the court's authority.
[...]
In spite of numerous reports [US Dept of State] that Russian forces had committed war crimes in Ukraine -- including a recent U.N. investigation [BBC Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine]
...While the transfers were supposed to be temporary "most became prolonged", with both parents and children facing "an array of obstacles in establishing contact", UN investigators wrote.
In some cases, parents or children told the Commission that once in Russia-controlled areas, transferred children were made to wear "dirty clothes, were screamed at, and called names." They also said that "some children with disabilities did not receive adequate care and medication."
The burden of contacting their parents fell primarily to the transferred children as the adults faced "considerable logistical, financial, and security challenges" in finding or retrieving their children, the report says....
which said that Russia's forced deportation of [16,221] Ukrainian children amounted to a war crime -- the Kremlin has denied it committed any crimes.
In a statement, Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch
...The 55-page report, "We Must Provide a Family, Not Rebuild Orphanages," documents risks to children from institutions in areas directly affected by the conflict as well as those evacuated to other areas of Ukraine or to European countries....
welcomed the announcement, saying the warrant sent "a clear message that giving orders to commit or tolerating serious crimes against civilians may lead to a prison cell."

archived evacuation and deportation candidates

by Cat on Fri Mar 17th, 2023 at 05:43:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

March 2023 Slava Ukraini!Biden: Wanted Dead or (none / 0)

ICC has a backlog of many years ...

war crimes in Afghanistan 2003-23
war crimes and human rights abuse in Occupied Palestine 1948 on ... eligible years 2014 to present

Did Palestinians seek ICJ opinion to restart stalled int'l cases? -expert

ICC judges issue arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes [_link]
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 17, 2023

Passed by Russia's Duma and signed by president Putin ahead of visit next week of CCP leader Xi Jinping from China. "Гаагский акт о вторжении" No reaction from Dutch PM Mark Rutte yet.

Likely theme of talks, transition from an Unipolar to a Multipolar Global Order.

Why the United States Rejects International Criminal Justice: Looking Back at Nuremberg

Losing the air of impartiality after 1945 with the horror of wars and the use of atomic bombs to end all wars.

posted earlier on Ukraine thread

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Fri Mar 17th, 2023 at 05:53:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

< wipes tears > (none / 1)

New York Yella Cake | Pentagon Blocks Sharing Evidence of Possible Russian War Crimes With Hague Court, 8 Mar

The Pentagon is blocking the Biden administration from sharing [a ham sandwich] with the International Criminal Court in The Hague gathered by American < wipes tears > intelligence agencies about Russian atrocities in Ukraine, according to current and former officials briefed on the matter.
[...]
American military leaders oppose helping the court investigate Russians because they fear setting a precedent that might help pave the way for it to prosecute Americans. The rest of the administration, including intelligence agencies and the State and Justice Departments, favors giving the evidence to the court, the officials said.
President Biden has yet to resolve the impasse, officials said.
The evidence is said to include details relevant to an investigation the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, began after Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago. The information reportedly includes material about decisions by Russian officials to deliberately target civilian infrastructure and to abduct [16,221] Ukrainian children from occupied territory.
[...]

well, alrighty then.
Helmer | US satellite photos revealed at last—Now they incriminate the Dutch police, prosecutors, and judges in the MH17 show trial, 12 Feb 2023

by Cat on Fri Mar 17th, 2023 at 06:45:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 Slava Ukraini! (none / 1)

U R DOIN' IT RONG, 18 Mar APsplainin

Olga Lopatkina paced around her basement in circles like a trapped animal. For more than a week, the Ukrainian mother had heard nothing from her six adopted children stranded in Mariupol, and she was going out of her mind with worry.
The kids had spent their vacation at a resort in the port city, as usual. But this time war with Russia had broken out, and her little ones -- always terrified of the dark -- were abandoned in a besieged city with no light and no hope. All they had now was her oldest son, Timofey, who was still himself just 17.

16,221 sez US intelligence

It's very hard to pin down the exact number of Ukrainian children deported to Russia -- Ukrainian officials claim nearly 8,000. Russia hasn't given an overall number, but officials regularly announce the arrival of Ukrainian orphans in Russian military planes.
In March [year?], Russian children's rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova said more than 1,000 children from Ukraine were in Russia. Over the summer, she said 120 Russian families had applied for guardianship, and more than 130 Ukrainian children had received Russian citizenship. Many more have come since, including a batch of 234 in early October.

Where were Olga and Denys Lopatkina?

Finally, a local doctor from Mariupol arranged an <>evacuation to elsewhere in Ukraine. But pro-Russia [Ukraine] forces at a checkpoint refused to recognize the children's documents, photocopies of official papers identifying them[,] and their [alleged] parents.
AP | Captive medic's bodycam shows firsthand horror of Mariupol (19.05.22)
...Later that night, two children -- a brother and sister -- arrive gravely wounded from a checkpoint shootout. Their parents are dead. By the end of the night, despite Taira's [alias Yuliia Paievska alias Yulia Paevskaya] entreaties to "stay with me, little one," so is the little boy....
AP | Ukrainian medic is captured after documenting war, A/V (19.05.22)
"...It wasn't just soldiers. Hours of footage show Taira treating wounded children, including a brother and sister in the early days of the war...."
US State | 2023 International Women of Courage Award Recipients Announced (06.03.23)
"...She provided medical treatment to Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity protestors in 2013, and as head of Taira's Angels, a volunteer unit of paramedics, she provided tactical medical training on the Donbas front lines..."
Timofey's pleas went nowhere. Instead, the children ended up in a hospital in the Donetsk People's Republic, or DPR, a separatist Russian-controlled area in Ukraine. Timofey was only months away from turning 18 -- the age when he would be drafted into the DPR army against his homeland.
[...]
At least, Timofey thought, he could tell his mother he had kept the children safe. He was close to his mother, and they were alike, he and she -- both tough survivors who would stick it out to the end no matter what. Or so he thought, until he reached her.
"It's great that they are alive," she replied. "But we are already abroad."
Timofey was utterly devastated. His parents had fled Ukraine without him. He felt they had thrown him away like garbage, along with five children he hadn't asked for and couldn't know how to protect.
"Thanks for leaving me," he wrote back, furious.

Ukrainian- or Russian-speaking Ukrainian? Orphaned or abandoned Ukrainian?

The children of Mariupol aren't the first Russia has been accused of stealing from Ukraine.
In 2014, after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula, more than 80 children from Luhansk were stopped at checkpoints and abducted [BY WHOM?]. Ukraine sued, and the European Court of Human Rights found the children were taken into Russia "without medical support or the necessary paperwork." The children were returned to [WHOM?] before a final [ECHR] decision.
[...]

by Cat on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 12:10:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Russian missiles cross into NATO member Poland, kill 2: senior US intelligence official | Source AP - Nov. 15, 2022 |

'Sapere aude'

A Senior U.S. Intelligence Official Says ...

Retweet from Serginho Roosblad

BREAKING: A senior U.S. intelligence official says Russian missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, killing two people.

A Polish government spokesman did not immediately confirm the information, but said leaders were meeting on "crisis situation." [_link]
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 15, 2022

Searching for the original AP News false report ....

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 12:58:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

SIDEBAR a Madeleine Albright rehab project (none / 0)

Strana* | Secrets of Taira. Who was paramedic Yulia Paevskaya exchanged for and why did it cause a wave of "zrada" in Russia, 21 June 2022

[...]
Who is Tyra
Yuliya Paevskaya with the call sign Taira is a well-known Ukrainian volunteer. By pre-war education, she was an aikido coach and designer.
From the very beginning of the Euromaidan and then the war in Donbass, she helped the wounded as a paramedic. She worked in the ATO zone, from 2018 to 2020 she served under a contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, based with her hospital in Shirokino near Mariupol.
on the contact line 3 years ago, A/V (UA), autotranslate enabled
While still in the ATO, Paevskaya formed a volunteer group called Tayra's Angels (similar to Charlie's Angels), which provided medical assistance to the military. Also, in a number of publications in 2014-2015, she was called a physician of the Volunteer Ukrainian Corps (DUK) "Right Sector".
Judging by earlier publications, Yulia knew the current adviser to the head of the President's Office, Arestovich. It was he who brought her into medical volunteering, making her an instructor in tactical medicine in his project "People's Reservist" (which was reported in 2020 by the Novinarnya resource).
After the Russian invasion in February, Taira ended up in Mariupol. In the second half of March 16, together with a driver, she evacuated the wounded from Azovstal and was detained by the Russian military. There was no information about her whereabouts. The only news was a video released by the Associated Press on May 20. As it turned out, Yulia filmed it with a chest camera and managed to pass it ["in a tampon"] on to reporters.
[...]
How Tyra was freed from captivity

athens news | The intrigues of a recent exchange. Why is there a scandal in Russia?, 22 June 2022

As a paramedic, Yulia helped the wounded during the Maidan, continued her activities during the hostilities in the Donbass, and then served on a contract basis in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (2018-2020). Together with her hospital, she was in Shirokino near Mariupol and in 2021, Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny awarded her with the Glory and Honor award....

Think of the children.

* President bans opposition media Strana.ua

by Cat on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 01:43:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

SIDEBAR a Madeleine Albright rehab project (none / 0)

Guardian | Home Office accused of 'shunting' Afghan child refugees around UK 'like cattle', 18 Mar Taliban-like "cases of girls denied chance to sit GCSE"

by Cat on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 05:06:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

SIDEBAR a Madeleine Albright rehab project (none / 0)

Kommersant | Ukraine wants to receive lists of children from new territories from Russia, 18 Mar
Vereshchuk inadvertently admits the unknown, anonymous children in the grey zone.

Kommersant | "To live like a normal person", 18 Mar fait, réalité
"How in Nizhny Novgorod they help orphans leave the boarding school for [assisted] living"

by Cat on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 10:00:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Law on Energoatom's ["]corporatization["] comes into force on Mar 23, IPO

960 Russian invaders, 15 tanks eliminated in past day, 21 Mar

From February 24, 2022 to March 21, 2023, the Armed Forces of Ukraine eliminated about 166,570 Russian military personnel, including 960 soldiers over the past day.
This is stated in the report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published on Facebook.
Moreover, the Ukrainian troops destroyed 3,552 (+15 over the past day) enemy tanks, 6,879 (+10) armored personnel vehicles, 2,586 (+9) artillery systems, 507 MLRS, 270 air defense systems, 305 aircraft, 290 helicopters, 2,167 (+7) operational-tactical UAVs, 907 cruise missiles, 18 ships/boats, 5,428 (+12) vehicles and fuel tanks, 266 (+1) special equipment units.

"On March 22, 2023, the Law of Ukraine 'On Peculiarities of Incorporating Joint-Stock Company Energoatom National Nuclear Energy Generating Company' was published by the Verkhovna Rada's official newspaper, Holos Ukrainy. According to Art. 6 of the Law, it comes into force on the day following its publication," the report states.

MFA denies that there are additional conditions in 'grain agreement', 23 Mar

"First of all, you should clearly remember that we signed an agreement with Türkiye and the UN, therefore, we have and fulfill our obligations to the world community, the UN, and Türkiye. We have declared to our partners in the UN and Türkiye that we reserve the right to supply our grain for such a long period [120 days]. It is difficult for me to say what Russia signed and what it declares," Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mykola Tochytskyi told Ukrinform in a comment on Wednesday, March 23.
Commenting on Russia's statement on the extension of the grain agreement for 60 days instead of 120, the official noted that this is Russia's another attempt to show that nothing will happen in the world without them.

Over 72,000 Russian war crimes recorded in Ukraine since invasion started - Prosecutor General

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin during his working visit to London, an Ukrinform correspondent reports, referring to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office. In the course of the meeting, Kostin expressed gratitude to Members of Parliament of the United Kingdom, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Dominic Raab[,] and Attorney General for England and Wales Victoria Prentis for providing assistance to Ukraine on the legal front.

Zelensk* addresses European Council

If Europe hesitates, evil may have time to regroup and prepare itself for years of war. It is in your power not to allow this to happen.
[...]
The full text of the address is provided below:

Naftogaz launches two new productive wells, 24 Mar clean tech

"Apart from ensuring the operation of our facilities, we also work on drilling new wells. In March alone, we launched two new productive wells with a capacity of 300-400 thousand cubic meters per day. These wells have shown significant production results thanks to the application of up-to-date approaches to the development of hydrocarbon fields," Oleksiy Chernyshov, Chairman of the Board at NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, said during his working visit to Poltava region, Naftogaz press service informs.

DTEK preparing mines to provide TPPs with coal next winter, more clean tech

"Coal mining is not a quick process. Therefore, it is necessary to work now, so that thermal power plants are provided with the resources required for their operation during winter. For this purpose, DTEK Energy has put into service six new longwalls since the beginning of the year," the report states. According to the company, this will help to maintain the pace of coal production that is needed to ensure the stable performance of Ukrainian TPPs.

• Seven children taken by Russians to Crimea for "rehabilitation" return to Kherson region
• Russians injured 942 children in Ukraine
• UN records more than 621 cases of abduction and detention of civilians by Russian military

by Cat on Fri Mar 24th, 2023 at 11:27:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

17 March 2023 Slava Ukraini! (none / 0)

reuters | German Leopard 2 tanks have reached Ukraine -security source

The 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks pledged by Germany to support Ukraine in its war against Russia have arrived in Ukraine, a security source said on Monday, confirming a report by Spiegel news magazine.
[...]
Besides the 18 main battle tanks, 40 German Marder [IVF] infantry fighting vehicles, and 2 armoured recovery vehicles had also reached Ukraine, the security source said.
[...]
Beyond the German vehicles, 3 Leopard tanks donated by Portugal also reached Ukraine, according to the security source.

archived 88 Leopard I, Leopard 2... in The cost of doing business

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Mar 28th, 2023 at 02:02:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

foreignpolicy | It's Time to Bring Back the Polish-Lithuanian Union, 23 Mar Re:Vision and eNTiTies

[...]
A militarized Ukrainian nation, embittered at the EU because of its inaction, and perhaps aggrieved by an unsatisfactory conclusion of the war with Russia, could easily become a liability for the West.
Imagine instead that, at the end of the war, Poland and Ukraine form a common federal or confederal state, merging their foreign and defense policies and bringing Ukraine into the EU and NATO almost instantly. The Polish-Ukrainian Union would become the second-largest country in the EU and arguably its largest military power, providing more than an adequate counterweight to the Franco-German tandem--something that the EU is sorely missing after Brexit.*
[...]

* UK-Eng. alert

by Cat on Thu Mar 30th, 2023 at 12:52:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

No journalist in France dare say that the pension package is just the implementation of EU recommendations i.e. directives. The model is NL even in details such as the new suggested minimum of 1200e.
Except that NL, as a tax heaven and an economy tolerant of all sort of grey zones has lots of money to recycle.
https:/www.standard.co.uk/news/world/france-protests-paris-strikes-riot-police-pension-reforms-b106 8024.html
https:/www.bbc.com/news/world-64974346

by Oosterbeek on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 02:54:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

ECONOMY & FINANCE

CNBC | Moody's cuts outlook on U.S. banking system to negative, citing 'rapidly deteriorating operating environment', 14 Mar

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Feb 28th, 2023 at 11:18:12 PM EST

ECON& FIN Germany (none / 1)

euractiv | Is Germany's LNG gold rush coming to an end?, 2 Mar P&E

[...]
Investors envisioned a world with around ten LNG terminals to replace Russian imports. Germany's LNG acceleration law, adopted in October 2022, confirmed these ambitions and laid the foundations for the construction of eight floating terminals as well as four permanent onshore terminals.
The floating terminals alone were expected to be large enough to replace the 45 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas that once flowed directly from Russia. The [two] permanent ones, meanwhile, would provide a similar import capacity.
But today, these ambitions are increasingly being questioned. According to a leaked internal analysis undertaken for the German ministry of economy and climate action, a majority of planned LNG terminals may in fact not be needed at all.
[...]
"The two fixed terminals in Stade and Wilhelmshaven and the mega-terminal off Rügen [p 17] are already no longer included in the considerations," the environmental activist pointed out. "In no demand scenario does the expansion of regasification capacities go beyond projects that have FID (Final Investment Decision) status as things stand today," adds the leaked analysis by the Economic Energy Institute (EWI). According to the analysis, the planned new LNG terminals would run at below 50% capacity by 2030, assuming the government's climate and energy saving policies are implemented.
[...]
Germany's annual gas demand is expected to fall below 60 bcm by 2030 [p 44], a far cry from today's 85 bcm.
[...]

by Cat on Fri Mar 3rd, 2023 at 01:15:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: ECON & FIN (none / 1)

Captain Obvious | EU Commission wants 10% of critical raw materials mined in Europe, 7 Mar hot house sanctions value chain

[...]
According to the leaked document, "10% of the Union's consumption of ~~strategic raw materials~~ minerals and ores" should be mined in the EU. In addition, 15% of the Union's annual consumption of each critical raw material should come from recycling, the document reads.
The Commission wants to set even higher goals when it comes to the processing of raw materials deemed critical. At least "40% of the bloc's annual consumption of each ~~strategic~~ imported raw material", should be refined within the bloc.
At the moment, the EU is heavily dependent on importing raw materials it deems critical. The EU is currently 100% dependent on foreign suppliers in 14 out of 27 critical raw materials and is 95% dependent on an additional three [?!] critical raw materials, a report by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) showed.
[...]
["]China Clause["]
The EU is currently especially dependent on China, which holds a ["]quasi-monopoly["] on many of these critical raw materials. The EU is, for instance, currently importing 93% of its magnesium and 86% of its rare earth metals from China.

excluding "Russian-origin" but including G20 "developing" hosts

This circumstance is also taken into account in the regulation. To prevent potential supply shortages and to boost resilience, the EU aims to "set a benchmark to not be dependent on one single third country for more than 70% [BWAH!] of imports for any strategic raw material by 2030″.

excluding AUTHORITARIAN COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

Supply shortages from China have already led to disruptions in the European industry in 2021[,] when China reduced its production [read: extraction and processing] of the material that is essential for the [European] aluminium industry.
To lessen [Europe's] dependence [on IMPORTS], the Critical Raw Materials Act is furthermore looking to diversify The European Supply Chain™. To boost diversification and strengthen supply, the Commission also intends to identify [FDI] projects in third countries. To boost these projects abroad, the Commission also aims at supporting them financially via the Global Gateway ~~strategy~~ market - a €300 billion heavy ~~initiative~~ Debt-for-Climate Swap "sustainable" bonds aimed at countering the Chinese belt and road initiative [BRI]. Additionally, large companies are asked to audit their existing supply chains and develop strategies to be better prepared for supply disruptions.
[Planned] projects
The Critical Raw Materials Act also includes special treatment for projects that are deemed "strategic". These "strategic projects" will be identified by the European Commission together with a European Critical Raw Materials Board that is yet to be established.
[...]

archived We cannot change the geology in Europe, value chain bankruptcy court

by Cat on Tue Mar 7th, 2023 at 04:54:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

G7 ECON & FIN value chain bankruptcy court (none / 0)

World Bank | Selection of the President, 22 Feb

...Candidate nominations should be submitted during a period starting on Thursday, February 23, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) and ending on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. EST, and must be made by Executive Directors, or by Governors through their Executive Director. Candidates must be nationals of the Bank's member countries. Executive Directors would strongly encourage women candidates to be nominated....

Biden's World Bank pick wins backing of Nobel laureates, leaders, 9 Mar quadrilateral PR

President Biden's pick to lead the World Bank, former Mastercard [executive chairman] Ajay Banga, is getting public backing from a group of Nobel Prize winners and ~~civil society leaders~~ corporate executives.
[...]
"A truly global citizen, Ajay has extensive experience living and working in developing economies. Importantly, as a leader with deep appreciation for the global south, he intuitively understands that economic growth can only be sustained if people and nature thrive together, not apart," the letter reads.
[...]
Biden nominated Banga, a U.S. citizen who was [born] in India, last month.
wikiwtf: "He is also currently vice chairman at General Atlantic, chairman of investment holding company Exor, chairman of Partnership for Central America with [?] U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, former chairman of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC), chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, member of the board of directors of the Dow Chemical Company, member of the Council on Foreign Relations, member of International Business Council of the World Economic Forum"; Oil Change International response (23.02.23)
Banga would replace David Malpass, who led the World Bank during the Trump administration and stepped down this week after pressure from [Millennium-challenged] Democrats....

archived Largarde made waves in Merkel for President?

by Cat on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 06:39:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

E3 ECON & FIN value chain bankruptcy court (none / 1)

RFERL | Six New European Nations Join Iran Barter System Opposed By U.S., 1 Feb 2019
infographic disaster
European CFR | Trading with Iran via the special purpose vehicle [SPV]: How it can work, 7 Feb 2019 SWIFT disintermediation

[...]
INSTEX will seek to facilitate Europe-Iran trade while reducing the need for [EUR, IRR] transactions between the European and Iranian [banking] systems. It will do this by allowing European exporters to receive payments for sales to Iran from [SPV] funds that are already within Europe, and vice versa.
[...]
meaning that the payment can be made from one European bank to another without using [EUR, IRR] funds that originated in Iran....the Iranian counterpart to INSTEX will coordinate a similar payment from the Iranian importer [?] of medicine to the Iranian exporter [?] of pistachios. These [IRR] funds will remain within Iran
[...]

Europe dissolves Iran trade system that never took off, 9 Mar 2023 APsplainin the E3 SPV fraud

European countries said Thursday they have decided to dissolve a system that was conceived in 2019 to enable trade with Iran and protect companies doing business with it from U.S. sanctions, but only ever processed one transaction.
[...]
The complex barter-type system was conceived by Germany, France and the U.K. in January 2019 after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal [JCPOA] and ~~reimposed~~ sanctions relief.

DICTION CORNER special purpose vehicle (SPV)
usage: Absent counterparties' capital paid in currency or kind, INSTEX shareholders praise their insolvent, limited liability SPV fund.

archived "truths" about SWIFT, INSTEX, SFPS, and CIPS, Sun Feb 27th 2022 and SWIFT 2012, Wed Jan 15th 2020 E3 reality check, Sat Jan 11th 2020 Carl Bildt cameo, Fri Nov 29th 2019, Sun Aug 25th 2019 in Kicking a Gift Horse in the Teeth

by Cat on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 10:57:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

G7 ECON & FIN value chain bankruptcy court (none / 0)

federalreserve | Federal Reserve Board announces it will make available additional funding to eligible depository institutions to help assure banks have the ability to meet the needs of all their depositors, 12 Mar Frank'n'Dodd caper

...The additional funding will be made available through the creation of a NEW! Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP), offering loans of up to one year [short-term liability] in length to banks, savings associations, credit unions, and other eligible depository institutions pledging U.S. Treasuries, agency debt and mortgage-backed securities, and other qualifying assets as collateral. These assets will be valued at par. The BTFP will be an additional source of liquidity against high-quality securities [oops], eliminating an institution's need to quickly sell those securities in times of stress.
With approval of the Treasury Secretary, the Department of the Treasury will make available up to $25 billion from the Exchange Stabilization Fund as a backstop for the BTFP. The Federal Reserve does not anticipate that it will be necessary to draw on these backstop funds.
After receiving a recommendation from the boards of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve, Treasury Secretary Yellen, after consultation with the President, approved actions to enable the FDIC to complete its resolutions of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in a manner that fully protects all depositors, both insured and uninsured....

moodys | Distress of SVB, Signature Bank, and Silvergate Capital underscores asset-liability risk of US banks, 13 Mar pay-to-view collateral damage

Significant Fed policy tightening [read: interest rate hikes] and improper asset [read: marketable securities] liability management have exacerbated banks' liquidity strains, with broad-based implications for the system beyond the closure of the three banks."
• European bank balance sheet structure limits contagion from distressed US banks (14.03.23)
• Impact of US bank distress will be limited for Asia-Pacific financial institutions (14.03.23)

...following deposit runs at ["crypto-friendly banks"] Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Silvergate Bank, and Signature Bank (SNY) and the failures of SVB and SNY [holding companies]," Moody's said in a report.
[...]
In its downgrade of the entire sector, the rating agency noted the extraordinary actions taken to shore up impacted banks. ...The Federal Reserve [FRB] established a facility to ensure that institutions hit with liquidity problems would have access to cash. The Treasury Department backstopped the program with $25 billion in funds and vowed that depositors with more than [FDIC limit] $250,000 at SVB and Signature would have full access to their funds.
"Banks with substantial unrealized securities losses and with non-retail and uninsured US depositors may still be more sensitive to ["]depositor competition["] or ultimate flight, with adverse effects on funding, liquidity, earnings and capital," the report said.
[...]
CSPAN | House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee hearing (09.03.23)
Inspectors General Testify on COVID-19 Relief Fraud
The firm noted that an extended period of low rates combined with COVID-19 pandemic-related fiscal and monetary stimulus have complicated bank operations....

Politico.eu.com | Nothing to see here: EU shrugs off Silicon Valley Bank collapse, 14 Mar

"At the EU level, there is very limited ["]presence["] of Silicon Valley Bank," Valdis Dombrovskis, executive vice president of the European Commission, said Tuesday. "We are in touch with the relevant competent authorities, but we don't expect much of a spillover effect."
[...]
"I don't see any risk of contagion," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday. "We are monitoring the situation but there is no specific alert."
[...]
"The problems arise from the specific business model of the Silicon Valley Bank, and the picture here in Europe is < wipes tears > very different," said Paschal Donohoe, president of the Eurogroup, the gathering of eurozone finance ministers, after their latest meeting on Monday.
[...]

CNBC | European stocks slide 2.5% as Credit Suisse craters and banks briefly halted from trade, 14 Mar

...Several bank stocks, including Credit Suisse [!], were temporarily halted from trade during the morning due to the steep losses. Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale, Commerzbank, and UBS declined to comment.
That comes despite buoyant trade in Asia-Pacific markets overnight and on Wall Street Tuesday, where U.S. bank stocks rebounded on optimism [BTFD!] that the contagion risk from Silicon Valley Bank's collapse was contained. U.S. stock futures were lower early Wednesday.
Meanwhile, U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt unveiled his "Spring Budget"...

archived European Sovereignty Fund 2023, Not Too Big to Fail, What is leverage?, Mon Feb 21st 2022, 2021 Mozambique UPDATE

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Mar 15th, 2023 at 04:19:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

G7 ECON & FIN value chain bankruptcy court (none / 0)

"fictitious asset values" + reputational damage = antitrust farce of the US Treasury persuasion

by Cat on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 12:37:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

G7 ECON & FIN value chain bankruptcy court (none / 0)

reuters | UBS seeks about $6 billion in government guarantees for Credit Suisse deal, 18 Mar
"...Swiss regulators are racing to present a solution for Credit Suisse before markets []open on Monday, but the complexities of combining two behemoths raises the prospect that talks will last well into Sunday, said the person, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the situation. Credit Suisse, UBS, and the Swiss government declined to comment...."

archived "Banking Union" European Deposit Insurance Scheme, ESM direct recapitalisation instrument in The Next Step, prudential exemption in TTIP Investment Rules [UPDATE], deposit insurance and bank recapitalization in All of Draghi's Horses

by Cat on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 02:00:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

SIDEBAR We the "state actors" (none / 0)

swissinfo.ch | Swiss central bank posts record CHF132 billion loss for 2022, 9 Jan 2023 USD 143B

"The loss on foreign currency positions amounted to around CHF131 billion and the loss on Swiss franc positions was around CHF1 billion. A valuation gain of CHF400 million was recorded on gold holdings," the SNB said in a statement on Monday.
The 2022 loss means the SNB will not make its usual payout to the Swiss federal and cantonal governments, it said. Last year it paid out CHF6 billion....

archived CNBC-CONTENT, "or 18% estimated 2022 GDP"

by Cat on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 03:04:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: SIDEBAR We the "state actors" (none / 0)

dnb | DNB foresees deterioration of capital position, 20 Sep 2022

...Our capital buffers are sizeable and capable of absorbing substantial shocks. We expect to end this year with a small loss. For the coming years, however, we expect losses to be considerable, especially in 2023 and 2024, which will have a major impact on our buffers.
It is essential for a central bank to maintain a healthy capital position. However, should our buffers become too depleted or < wipes tears > expected profits remain too low, additional measures may be necessary to restore our balance sheet to solidity. In an extreme case, a capital contribution from the Dutch State may be necessary....

JUST IN - Dutch central bank (DNB) suffered a loss of almost half a billion euros last year - the first loss since 1931.
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) March 23, 2023

rtlnieuws.nl | Dutch central bank is heading for a loss of billions, 23 Mar 2023

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) is expected to make a huge loss of more than 3 billion euros this year. DNB expects the losses to continue until 2028. This is according to the central bank's annual report published today. President-director Klaas Knot estimates that the losses will amount to a total of around 10 billion euros in the coming years.
[...]
Consequence of own policy
Ironically, the expected losses are a direct result of its own policy of raising interest rates. With this, the European Central Bank started aggressively in the middle of last year to curb [PUTIN's WAR OF AGGRESSION] inflation [REDUCTION ACTS]. From the start, DNB has been one of the proponents of taking major interest rate steps.
[...]
Knot: no banking crisis
The publication of the annual report also comes at a time when the financial world is in turmoil. After the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank in the US and a number of regional banks, the Swiss bank Credit Suisse got into trouble.
[...]

by Cat on Fri Mar 24th, 2023 at 06:07:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: SIDEBAR We the "state actors" (none / 0)

Only in 2028 will DNB write black figures again and until then there will be a line through the profit distribution for the Dutch treasury.
As soon as profits are made again, DNB will need another five to six years to build up a new buffer, explains Olaf Sleijpen, a member of the DNB board. This means that the State will not receive a dividend for at least twelve years. Added up, this is a loss for the government of approximately 10 billion euros, according to a calculation by DNB.

euractiv | EU unveils* Critical Raw Materials Act, aiming to lessen dependence on China, 16 Mar

by Oui (Oui) on Fri Mar 24th, 2023 at 09:13:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: SIDEBAR We the "state actors" (none / 0)

CNBC | Stocks close higher Friday as investors try to shake off latest bank fears, 24 Mar off the lows!

... A sell[-]off of Deutsche Bank's U.S.-listed shares Friday morning put downward pressure on market sentiment and the major ind[ic]es, before the bank recovered some of its earlier losses. Deutsche Bank closed 3.11% lower Friday, rebounding from a 7% drop earlier in the trading session.

bond vultures live another day
Torygraph | Olaf Scholz forced to defend Deutsche Bank after shares slump, 24 Mar gratis PSA, illustrated

[...]
Mr Scholz said: "Deutsche Bank has fundamentally modernised and reorganised its business and is a very profitable bank. There is no reason to be concerned about it."
He added that "the capital adequacy of European banks is robust, thanks to the work over the past few years and also thanks to the efforts of the banks themselves".
Attempts to provide reassurance came after shares in Deutsche fell by as much as 14pc on Friday, while its credit default swaps, used to insure against the risk of it not paying debts, jumped to a five-year high. European markets tumbled again on Friday, with bank stocks dragging London's FTSE 100 index down 1.3pc. Shares in Standard Chartered, Barclays, and NatWest fell 6.4pc, 4.2pc and 3.6pc respectively.
[...]
Bond traders are now scrapping bets that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again in May. The US central bank and the Bank of England both raised rates this week despite the turmoil.
[...]

by Cat on Fri Mar 24th, 2023 at 10:46:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Socialism Is Good ... For US Banks! (none / 0)

US banks want socialism for themselves - and capitalism for everyone else | Robert Reich [_link]
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 19, 2023

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 07:44:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Socialism Is Good ... For US Banks! (none / 0)

Silicon Valley Bank's collapse will not be a one-off - a banking crisis was long overdue [_link]
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 19, 2023

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 07:45:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Credit Suisse Taken Over by UBS (none / 0)

UBS agrees to buy Credit Suisse as regulators look to shore up global banking system [_link]
— CNBC (@CNBC) March 19, 2023

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 07:46:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Good Morning Europe, Zürich Here (none / 0)

Haircut investors Credit Suisse between 80 and 90%

SAUDI NATIONAL BANK: THE CHANGE IN CREDIT SUISSE VALUATION WON'T IMPACT OUR PLANS.
— Breaking Market News (@financialjuice) March 20, 2023

LOSS 80% of investment

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 07:49:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Credit Suisse Taken Over by UBS (none / 0)

CNBC Daily Open: Credit Suisse is too big to fail. So UBS agrees to buy it [_link]
— CNBC (@CNBC) March 20, 2023

Interview on CNBC tv ... banks have become more toxic.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 07:58:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Socialism Is Good ... For US Banks! (none / 0)

Slash interest rates and stop bond sales, ex-policymaker tells Bank of England [_link>
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 19, 2023

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 07:47:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

G7 ECON & FIN value chain bankruptcy court (none / 0)

Bloomberg | Warren Buffett in Contact With Biden Team on Banking Crisis, 18 Mar BTFD

[...]
There have been multiple conversations between Biden's team and Buffett in the past week, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private [?!]. The calls have centered around Buffett possibly investing in the [sic] US regional banking sector in some way, but the billionaire has also given advice and guidance more broadly about the current turmoil.
Buffett has a long history of stepping in to aid banks in crisis, leveraging his cult investing status and financial heft to restore confidence in ailing firms.
[...]

archived advertising for a "chief sanctions economist", Our sanctions don't affect..., Decades of EU-US sanctions against...

by Cat on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 02:37:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

ancient history (none / 1)

in case y'all come across Gen-Z journalists chirping about "crypto-friendly" SVB, Signature Bank, and Silvergate (possibly First Republic and FTX) being the largest—$375B-$450B—bank "rescue" since 2009 (which would be after the FRB chose JPM instead of WaMu or Citi to buy out Bear Stearns' global book of business, Mar 2008, ie. 6 months before Lehman Bros. and AGI broke innerboob "stakeholders" TARP "financial literacy").

by Cat on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 05:03:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: ancient history (none / 1)

Wall Street on Parade | UBS Was Quietly Bailed Out in 2008; Now It's Getting a $173 Billion Backstop* to Buy Credit Suisse at 82 Cents a Share, 20 Mar reference for aging Gen-Z "journalists"

...The way this UBS bailout went down in 2008 was illuminated in the audit of the Fed's emergency bailout facilities from December 2007 to July 2010 that was conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO audit was not released until July of 2011. It reported the following about the UBS bailout...

* UK-Eng. "bad bank" alert

by Cat on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 10:11:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: ancient history (none / 0)

APsplainin why "Yellen sought Paulson's advice after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation took over SVB, which was victimized by a run on the banks that began earlier that week."

by Cat on Mon Mar 27th, 2023 at 11:55:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

G7 ECON & FIN value chain bankruptcy court (none / 0)

federalreserve | Coordinated central bank action to enhance the provision of U.S. dollar liquidity,
19 Mar NEW! inflation reduction liquidity window, or QE

The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank [ECB], the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank [SNB] are today announcing a coordinated action to enhance the [NEW! Bank Term Funding Program] via the standing U.S. dollar liquidity swap line arrangements.
To improve the swap lines' effectiveness in providing U.S. dollar funding, the central banks currently offering U.S. dollar operations have agreed to increase the frequency of 7-day maturity operations from weekly to daily. These daily operations will commence on Monday, March 20, 2023, and will continue at least through the end of April....

archived best-in-class financial and professional services

by Cat on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 10:48:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: ECON & FIN (none / 1)

"source" is not a verb.

Commissioners Valdis Dombrovskis and Thierry Breton, who jointly lead on the file, have one key objective in mind: reducing Europe's reliance "on imports, often from quasi-monopolistic [sic] third country suppliers"....yet only a small proportion comes from EU mines.
[...]
Even if targets are voluntary, "it frees economic actors who want to aim for this goal too - not just the industry, but financial institutions too", Breton told journalists. Dombrovskis added: "The EU is not a planned economy."
[...]
Ultimately, the goal of the projects is to enhance the EU's securitisation of critical and strategic raw materials across the production life cycle [?]. An Annex lists the metals that fall within the scope of the legislative file.
The Commission draws a ~~clear~~ distinction [without difference] between 'strategic' and 'critical' raw materials. Strategic metals [not materials?] are those with high importance in specific sectors - say, microchips or batteries - that may experience global demand/supply imbalances, and may be subject to barriers to trade from producing third countries. Critical raw materials (CRMs), on the other hand, are crucial for the EU economy at large, all the while facing risks of severe supply disruptions ["from producing third countries"].
[...]
The CRM club
The EU can't do it all on its own, however. The Act sets out to create long-lasting ties with international partners, something the Commission dubbed the `CRM club'.
According to the Communications, the club will be "bringing together ["]consuming countries["] and ["]resource-rich countries["] to foster sustainable investment in ["]producing countries["] and allowing them to move up the value chain".
"We cannot go to third countries and tell them to 'do the dirty work' that mining and extraction requires, that's morally unacceptable," Breton told a press conference in Paris on Monday (13 March). The Commission's proposal acts as "a kind of test that the EU can do it on its own, with its own methods and values", he added at the time. Instead, the EU will work hand-in-hand with 'like-minded' partners, in an effort to support local economic development, and expand the industry - especially on the African continent - from solely extraction to refining.
[...]
Negotiations over a raw materials partnership between the US and the EU should mark the start of this global club, the Commission said - as well as the recently concluded EU-Chile Free-Trade Agreement, which hones ~~in on~~ [local?] lithium production.

* Satre, Truth and Existence: "The abstract man is absent. For the abstract man Truth is neither Being nor the unveiling of Being, it is knowledge about Being, in the absence of Being."

sputnik | Lack of Mining Capacity Threatens to Upend Global Lithium Race, Analyst Says, 17 Mar
"The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates ...." 98M tons of lithium

by Cat on Fri Mar 17th, 2023 at 03:06:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: ECON & FIN France (none / 0)

CNBC | French President Macron overrides parliament to pass retirement age bill, 16 Mar

• French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday resorted to using special constitutional powers.
• The pensions overhaul has been met with widespread protests and strikes across France.
• Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced to the assembly that the government would trigger Article 49.3 [AKA Article 47-2, § 49] of the French Constitution.
[...]
Macron's Renaissance [AKA En Marche!] party argues reform of the pension system is necessary to sustain it long into the future. It has a projected annual deficit of 10 billion euros ($10.73 billion) each year between 2022 and 2032, according to France's Pensions Advisory Council.
[...]

archived The Dictator and the Decider

by Cat on Fri Mar 17th, 2023 at 06:13:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: ECON & FIN France (none / 0)

Why are French people protesting? Riot police clash with crowds in Paris, 16 Mar

I remember seeing news footage of Nigel Farage's Brexit march consisting of about 30 bellends and a whippet...

But no British news coverage of this incredible strike action from yesterday:

pic.twitter.com/3kyc2dswa5
— Marina Purkiss (@MarinaPurkiss) March 16, 2023

by Cat on Fri Mar 17th, 2023 at 07:20:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Pension Riots Are Despicable - Hilarious (none / 0)

In the middle of his appearance on TV, Macron realized that he was wearing a watch worth 80,000 euros, so he quickly decided to take it off without anyone noticing pic.twitter.com/xIhQh4m7iL
— Spriter (@spriter99880) March 23, 2023

Best PR in a long time ...

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Mar 26th, 2023 at 11:34:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: ECON & FIN France channeling Sicily (none / 0)

#Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has refused to force back to work the city's garbage collectors, who have been on strike for 10 days.

📎Around 7,600 tons of waste have piled up on the streets of the French capital as a result of the ongoing protest against pension reform. pic.twitter.com/uynjvWg9CB
— 𝗔𝗥𝗚𝗨𝗘 (@IcanArgue) March 16, 2023

Telesur | Paris Suffers From Piling Up Of Over 10 000 Tons Of Garbage (17.03.23
archived an immense pile of filth

by Cat on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 04:17:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: ECON & FIN France (none / 0)

Politico.eu.com | Macron survives crucial no-confidence vote in parliament, 20 Mar

...278 MPs, mostly from the left and the far right, voted in favor of a cross-party motion of no confidence, falling short of the 287 votes needed to topple the government. A second motion, backed only by the far-right National Rally, is not expected to garner enough votes....

archived "He's doing our work for us, in a certain respect"

by Cat on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 06:53:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: ECON & FIN eurozone (none / 1)

ECB | Speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at "The ECB and Its Watchers XXIII" conference, 22 Mar

[...]
The euro area has suffered a large terms-of-trade loss owing to rising energy prices, the cost of which must ultimately be shared between firms and workers. And it is important that there is fair burden sharing between them, with both accepting that they cannot fully recover the income that the euro area has paid to the rest of the world [?!] and the ensuing loss of output.
RT translation: Eurozone can't recover wealth lost to energy crisis
So far, real wages have decreased substantially, while firms' profit margins have expanded in many sectors. But the labour market is quite tight, labour shortages are increasing, and the terms-of-trade shock has largely reversed. This is leading workers to use their bargaining power to recoup lost income.
For the seven countries covered by the ECB's wage tracker,[4] collective bargaining during 2022 led to an aggregate wage rise of 4.7% for this year. This is already playing a stronger role in core inflation. While wage-sensitive items[5] contributed only around 0.5 percentage points to core inflation before the pandemic, that contribution has more than doubled in recent months.
If both workers and firms accept fair burden sharing, and stronger wage growth represents merely a rebalancing between labour and capital, then both wage and price pressures should diminish as this process plays out. But if both parties attempt to unilaterally minimise their losses, we could see a feedback mechanism between higher profit margins, wages[,] and prices.
[...]

by Cat on Thu Mar 23rd, 2023 at 08:05:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

March 2023 price cap mania (none / 1)

Russia's Largest Miner Is Selling Nickel to China in Yuan, 1 Mar "critical materials"

A SIGN of how the invasion of Ukraine is redrawing global commodity flows and handing greater ["green" battery?] power to China.
[...]
The shift comes as Nornickel, which supplies about 7% of the world's nickel, DESPERATELY hopes to boost sales to China this year as some European buyers SHUN, EMBARGO, ISOLATE Russian commodities.
Nornickel's Chinese customers are also pushing to link long-term contracts to Shanghai prices, the people said. Negotiations over the long-term contracts are still ongoing, they said, although they may also involve a mix of LME [London Metals Exchange] and SHFE [Shanghai Futures Exchange] pricing.
[...]
While the US and UK have sanctioned Nornickel's top shareholder and president, Vladimir Potanin, no penalties have been placed on the company itself or its exports. Still, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to disruptions in logistics, insurance, banking and shipping, putting pressure on Nornickel to accept its Chinese customers' demands.
Nornickel is likely to lower nickel output by 4% to 5% from 2022's level of 219,000 tons as it conducts , < wipes tears > maintenance that had been put off from last year due to equipment supply issues, it said in January. The company is also restructuring logistics chains with focus on more friendly countries, primarily China, ~~Turkey Türkiye Myanmar~~ BURMA!, Morocco[,] and Arab[-speaking] countries, Potanin said in an interview with RBC TV.

India be, like, and not THE SECOND-LARGEST, FASTEST GROWING, DEMOCRATIC, COVID-19 LIBERATED, THIRD-COUNTRY EMERGING MARKET POWER on the planet?

archived February 2023 price cap mania, February 2023 price cap racketeering, January 2023 price cap mania, March 2022 "black swan"

by Cat on Sun Mar 5th, 2023 at 08:55:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 price cap mania (none / 1)

S&P GlobalPlatts seeks feedback on Russian material in Asian LPG assessments, 27 Feb

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, is seeking feedback on whether Russian material is part of the open spot market reflected in its Asia and Middle East Propane and Butane assessments.
This consultation by Platts is driven by observation that an increasing number of market participants in Asia are already restricting Russian-origin LPG in their spot trading activity in recent months.
In addition, market feedback to Platts' consultation which concluded Feb, 14 on the origin basis of its gasoline assessments in Asia and the Middle East highlighted that companies are increasingly stipulating that they will not trade Russian gasoline blending components used in making the end-user grade of gasoline traded, in the Asian market
Platts has further observed that there has not been any significant flow of Russian-origin LPG into Asia and Middle East in 2023. However, there are concerns from market participants about potential new flows from Russia to Asia after the EU sanctions on Russian oil products came into force on Feb. 5, 2023.
Platts is therefore seeking immediate feedback on whether its CFR North Asia, CFR China, CFR Taiwan, and FOB Arab Gulf Propane and Butane refrigerated cargo assessments, and the smaller regional pressurized LPG assessments should continue to include Russian-origin material. Unless otherwise stated, Platts assessments in these markets currently reflect an open origin basis, which includes potential supply from Russia. All Platts assessments reflect merchantable commodities.

S&P GlobalPlatts discontinues restricted-origin European ULSD assessments, 1 Mar 2023

Platts first proposed the discontinuation in a subscriber note published Nov. 24, 2022. These assessments were launched on April 11, 2022, to provide further price transparency into what was a developing market at the time, as Platts had observed a number of participants in the European diesel market restricting Russian material, in part or entirely, in their spot trading activity due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
As European markets increasingly shifted away from buying Russian-origin products, Platts decided to change the methodology of its established benchmark European diesel assessments to exclude Russian-origin product with effect from June 1, 2022, from open origin previously.

UK Gas Pipeline Defect Prompts Supply Suspension to Europe, 5 Mar reliable partners

The UK announced the suspension of gas supplies to Europe via the interconnector until March 8 due to equipment malfunction, Bloomberg reported today, Sunday, citing the company operating the line.
brusselstimes | Mud and dust in pipeline slow down gas supply from UK to Europe (05.08.22)
"This has forced the operator of the Interconnector to shut down the pipeline 24 times this year, while the filters that keep the gas clean normally only need to be replaced twice a year....Every year, 20 billion cubic metres of natural gas flows to Belgium and 25.5 billion cubic metres to the United Kingdom."
The agency said that supply operations through the Interconnector gas pipeline began to decline from last week due to a severe cold wave in the United Kingdom....It also turned out that this week in Europe was colder than the previous one, which actually led to an increase in gas withdrawals from underground storage facilities. The temperature in many EU countries has reached the level of average ["]climatic values["].
[...]

by Cat on Sun Mar 5th, 2023 at 09:13:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 price cap mania (none / 1)

Saudi Arabia raises oil prices for EU, Asia
"in April. This comes after the country unexpectedly increased prices in February by $2 for European buyers and $0.20 for Asian buyers."

yahoo! bloomberg | Saudi Arabia Raises Oil Prices for Asia and Europe for April

by Cat on Tue Mar 7th, 2023 at 03:26:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 price cap mania (none / 0)

background
EMIS | ROSSELKHOZBANK JSC

"Russian Agricultural Bank" is one of the biggest banks in Russia that specializes in funding the agricultural sector. 100% of the lender's shares are state-owned.

unctad | EU Adopts sixth package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, 3 June 2022

...Prohibiting the provision of specialized financial messaging services (including SWIFT) to three additional Russian credit institutions: Sberbank; Credit Bank of Moscow, and Joint Stock Company Russian Agricultural Bank, JSC Rosselkhozbank....

FT | Member states press EU to amend sanctions to unblock Russian food shipments, 7 Dec 2022
archived Sun Jul 24th, 2022 agreed, Sun Nov 6th, 2022 expiration I, Feb 22nd, 2023 expiration II

foreground

vOlDeMoRT | EU offers Russian banks alternatives to SWIFT - media, 4 Mar

Russian banks disconnected from SWIFT may be permitted to use alternative messaging channels for transactions with foreign counterparts, RBK news outlet reported on Saturday, citing EU guidance.
According to the report, the alternatives encompass "non-specialized financial messaging services" such as phone, fax, or email < wipes tears >. Banks that are not on the EU sanctions list can use these channels to conduct business with European financial institutions if the transactions are also not subject to sanctions, the document states. It specifies payments for imports and exports of non-sanctioned goods as an example.
[...]
The reason for the reported proposal was that Rosselkhozbank services the lion's share of Russia's fertilizer and food-related exports, which do not fall under sanctions. Brussels has thus far not issued a sanctions waiver [?!] regarding Rosselkhozbank, but the European Commission earlier indicated that the matter is being discussed....

archived mysteries of telecommunication

by Cat on Wed Mar 8th, 2023 at 03:23:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

SIDESHOW starving Africans (none / 0)

Ukraine and UN call for Black Sea [Grain Initiative] extension, deadline 18 Mar, MY2022-MY2024

António Guterres and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensk* on Wednesday called for [1 year extension of a deal with Russia that allows Ukrainian grain exports to pass through the blockaded [sic] Black Sea.
"Today, we are interested in ensuring that there is no hunger in the world. And our common policy is to continue the operation of the 'grain corridor,'" Zelensk* said, after talks in Kyiv [about the International Fund for Ukraine artillery shells].
[...]
According to U.N. tracking data

which Politico.eu.com does not link to any UN or JCC tracking data sources

China, Spain, and Turkey have received the biggest share of grain ["seaborne"] shipments under the deal -- but some wheat[, some CORN] delivered to Turkey is processed [into flour] there

until earthquakes of BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS impair "some" critical infrastructure

and re-exported to countries such as Iraq and Sudan or sold to the U.N.'s World Food Programme [WFP] and distributed as ["some"] food aid.
[...]

archived Consilium infographics vs JCC infographics

by Cat on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 04:04:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

SIDESHOW starving Africans UPDATE (none / 0)

Russia agrees to extend Ukraine grain deal, 13 Mar

Russia is not opposed to an extension of the Black Sea "grain deal" originally brokered last August, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said on Monday. The diplomat made the remarks following negotiations in Geneva with representatives of the UN.
"The Russian side, acknowledging the package nature of the Istanbul agreements tabled by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, does not object to another extension of the Black Sea initiative after the expiration of its second term on March 18, but only for 60 days," Vershinin told reporters.
[...]
However, Moscow has repeatedly criticized the arrangement, insisting it was not working as intended. According to Russia, the deal has effectively only enabled commercial exports of grain from Ukraine, with food flowing to Europe rather than to the needy countries of Africa and Asia, while Russian fertilizer and grain exports remained blocked by the West.
"Russian agricultural exports are being blatantly hindered, no matter how much the Europeans and Americans, who are used to telling lies, try to convince everyone otherwise," the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier this month.
[...]

Bloomberg | Ukraine Rebuffs Russia's Offer of a 60-Day Extension on Grain Deal, 13 Mar

Ukrainian infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Twitter that the proposal contradicted the terms of the overarching agreement [between TR and UN?], which allows for renewals of at least 120 days.

so, 365 days is totally reasonable

The Black Sea Grain Initiative's terms say it will remain in effect for 120 days from signing and can be automatically extended for the same period, unless one of the parties notifies their intent to terminate or amend it. It was last renewed in November....

reference
OCHA | Note to correspondents on the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the Memorandum of Understanding with the Russian Federation, 13 Mar
"...The discussions focused on the implementation of the two agreements signed on 22 July 2022: the Black Sea Grain Initiative between the Russian Federation, Türkiye, Ukraine and the United Nations; and the Memorandum of Understanding between the Russian Federation and the UN, to facilitate unimpeded exports of food and fertilizer...."

JCC |Note to Correspondents - on Black Sea Grain Initiative, 14 Mar
"...Regarding the parallel Memorandum of Understanding focused on the export of Russian food and fertilizer, Rebeca Grynspan, the head of UNCTAD [!], and her team, as well as the Secretary-General himself have spared no efforts to facilitate that trade. Meaningful progress has been made but it is true that some obstacles remain, notably with regard to payment systems. Our efforts to overcome those obstacles will continue unabated...."

by Cat on Wed Mar 15th, 2023 at 04:50:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

SIDESHOW G7 sanctions compliance (none / 0)

What happened when Blinken went to Ankara
RT | Türkiye blocking transit of sanctioned goods to Russia - media, 9 Mar

[...]
Analysts attribute Türkiye's decision to the EU's latest sanctions against Moscow. In the tenth sanctions package announced last month, Brussels banned exports of dual-use goods to Russia. Türkiye is part of the EU's Community Customs Union, in which cargo clearance takes place under EU rules, and, accordingly, in compliance with Brussels' sanctions. However, Türkiye did not impose sanctions against Russia, and has not issued any official notifications that the transit of goods would be blocked. On March 1, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara would not be joining anti-Russia sanctions under external pressure.
Some analysts believe the transit halt is the result of the recent visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Türkiye. Washington has long been pressuring Ankara to distance itself from Russia, warning of secondary sanctions against Turkish companies for violating the restrictions against Moscow.
On the other hand, some experts claim that technical reasons may be to blame. Türkiye uses the EU's electronic document management system, the NCTS, for transit operations, which was recently updated in accordance with the new sanctions. This update may have been causing problems with cargo clearance.

dailysabah | Türkiye claimed to halt transit of Western goods to Russia

...
"I would like to clearly define the essence of the issue: for goods with non-sanctioned TNVED (custom code) codes, transit through Türkiye is possible, their export from Türkiye to Russia is also possible," emphasizes Dmitry Arzhanykh, co-founder of the SLK group. "But sending transit cargo with sanctioned TNVED codes is impossible."
[...]
According to a source familiar with power plant imports, it is currently impossible to enter Russia's customs database with certain TNVED codes when re-exporting. However, only transit is prohibited, meaning it is possible to clear customs and transport the goods further....

kommersant | Country of unlimited customs

...Yulia Shlenskaya also says that she heard about the version according to which this situation is the subject of bargaining for the extension of the grain deal. [Its] term ends on March 15, and Russia is not eager to extend it. But three interlocutors of Kommersant on the market believe that Türkiye simply wants to make even more money on Russian transit. "They want VAT and other fees and charges on operations," says one of them.
Four days plus VAT
Some of Kommersant's interlocutors believe that the problem can be solved after some time and is of a technical nature - they talk about software updates and problems exclusively at the level of the Turkish NCTS information system. However, the majority believes that the closure of the transit scheme will become permanent. So far, there is only one way out—to clear the cargo in Türkiye , make a Turkish certificate of origin, and send the cargo to Russia, says Igor Rebelsky. "Everything goes through as usual customs clearance, nothing extra has been asked yet," he says. "It takes three to four days, no more, plus VAT (18%)."...

Save the date: 14 May

by Cat on Sat Mar 11th, 2023 at 02:10:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: SIDESHOW G7 sanctions compliance (none / 0)

ICYMI: Turkey taken to International Court for 'crimes against humanity', 2 Mar

...allegedly committed by Erdogan's regime after a failed coup in 2016, was sent by a Belgian law firm, a Belgium-based NGO, and a European judges association
[...]
The lawyers estimate that 200,000 persons were tortured, disappeared, or incarcerated and convicted without due process in Turkey. Crimes were not only committed in Turkey but also in other territories, and notably Belgium.
Turkey Tribunal set up a civil society-led tribunal to adjudicate human rights violations perpetrated by Ankara. In 2021, the panel of judges announced that the torture and abductions committed by Turkish state officials since July 2016 could amount to crimes against humanity in an application brought to an international court.
[...]

Politico.eu.com | EU to send Turkey €1B for quake reconstruction, 20 Mar loss and damages
"...The aid package also includes €108 million for humanitarian assistance to Syria, von der Leyen said.vTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday the cost of the earthquakes' damages was estimated at $104 billion (around €97 billion)."

NEW! Script | Donors pledge €7 billion to Turkey, Syria quake recovery

Turkey has refused to fully resume the transit of sanctioned goods to Russia, 21 Mar dual-use

Turkey has refused to completely resume the transit of sanctioned goods to Russia -- now supplies are coming with a number of restrictions, Kommersant writes with reference to logisticians. For example, the mechanism has stopped working for products from the USA and Canada, as well as certain categories of consumer goods, regardless of the country of production.
On March 20, Russian companies were able to arrange transit both at the airport and at cargo terminals, but only for goods produced in the EU, said George Vlastopulo, CEO of Optimalog. Registration of American cargo with the indication of "Russia" as the destination country is blocked.
[...]

Black Sea Grain Initiative, Pt.2
Yle | A cargo of fertilizer belonging to a Russian oligarch was stopped in the port of Kotka, 22 Mar
"The ministry does not say which oligarch they are talking about."
valtioneuvosto.fi | Ministry for Foreign Affairs granted an authorisation for Russian fertiliser cargo stopped at Port of Kotka, 23 Mar

On 9 March, the National Enforcement Authority Finland imposed interim measures to freeze a shipment of fertilisers, loaded on board at the Port of Kotka. The fertilizers were suspected of being under control of a person listed in the EU sanctions against Russia. A [2 weeks] investigation, carried out in cooperation among authorities, confirmed the link between the shipment of fertilisers and a sanctioned individual.
EU sanctions do not prevent the import or transit of fertilisers < wipes tears > from Russia into or through the European Union. In other words, there are no restrictions on the import or transit of fertilisers (with the exception of potash import). However, Member States must freeze the funds and economic resources owned or controlled by sanctioned individuals in accordance with the EU individual sanctions on Russia. If such assets are frozen fertilisers, they may be released by granting an authorisation allowing the fertilizers transit through the EU territory. The authorisation may be granted if the fertilisers are exported to a third country to address food security. On this basis, the fertiliser shipment stopped at the Port of Kotka may continue under the authorisation granted by the Foreign Ministry.
[...]

Turkish parliamentary committee OKs Finland's NATO bid, 23 Mar coincidence

[...]
Erdoğan cited the Nordic country's efforts to keep its promises as part of the memorandum. He also expressed hope that Finland's NATO membership would be ratified before presidential and parliamentary elections, which are set for May 14.
[...]

by Cat on Thu Mar 23rd, 2023 at 07:38:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

23 Mar price cap mania [INCONTINENCE ALERT] (none / 1)

Bloomberg | Russian Oil Gets More Pricey as Pool of Asian Buyers Expands, 8 Mar guestimate
< checks watch >

oilprice | Little-Known [EME] Traders Now RULE [EU "embargo"] Russian[-origin] Oil ["discount" fuel products] Markets, 23 Mar guestimate

[...]
Bloomberg has established [O RLY?] that Bellatrix received loan facilities from Russian banks including Rosneft-owned Russian Regional Development Bank and Russian Agricultural Bank, though calls or emails to these traders, their banks, and Russian oil producers have gone unanswered.

archived Don't ask. < wipes tears > Don't tell.

Meanwhile, other [sanctions economists] have decried the opacity of ["CHINA's Junior partner"] oil markets, "We're coming to this with a lot of humility and we're just asking that everyone else can adopt the same level of uncertainty. These are really opaque ~~markets~~ messaging systems, the data's not great on it. Let's just acknowledge that from the outset when we're making conclusions [sic]," U.S. Assistant Treasury Secretary Ben Harris has told Bloomberg.
[...]

That's a funny way to schpell assumptions.
archived price cap mania never accepts failure

by Cat on Thu Mar 23rd, 2023 at 06:12:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

24 Mar price cap mania [INCONTINENCE ALERT] (none / 0)

• energyintelligence | Baltic Nations Keep Pushing EU for Lower Price Cap, 13 Mar
• S&P Global | Platts no longer includes Russia as potential origin source in Asia MTBE,
16 Mar Commodity: Oil, Region: Asia EMEA, Subscriber note: methodology

...Platts has also observed that there has not been any significant flow of Russian-origin MTBE cargoes into Singapore. Singapore did not import any Russian-origin MTBE over January-December 2022, Enterprise Singapore data showed. However, there are concerns from market participants about potential new flows from Russia to Asia after the EU sanctions on Russian oil products came into force on Feb. 5, 2023....

• Bloomberg | G-7 Set to Hold Off Revising Russian Oil Price Cap This Week, 20 Mar

- IEA data showed Russian crude selling well below $60 threshold
- EU aims to keep limit at 5% below average market rates

• newsqueek | U.S. Behind Delay in Review of G7 Russian Oil Price Cap: Officials, 21 Mar

[...]
The State Department declined to comment on the assertions, a spokesperson telling Newsweek in a statement that the Price Cap Coalition "aligns on a joint path forward based on the input of every Coalition member." The spokesperson added that "the Coalition reserves the right to change the price at any time," and the "G7 will update the public when the review is complete."

< wipes tears >

The cap is currently set at $60 per barrel. Ukraine and some of the EU's more ["]Russo-skeptic["] states want the cap to be cut to as low as $30 per barrel to minimize the Kremlin's lucrative oil income, which is helping fund its war in Ukraine.
"In general, they believe that price cap does its job," one diplomat from a Baltic state—who requested anonymity to speak candidly—told Newsweek of the American position.
[...]

Ukranews | India Recognizes Purchase Of Russian Oil At ["]Discount["] Of USD 5 Per Barrel, Not USD 50, As Media Reported, 24 Mar

In mid-March, the Indian authorities published data that confirmed the small size of the discount on the purchase of Russian oil. Namely, in January, India bought Russian oil at an average of USD 79.8 per barrel. This was reported by the Internet publication The Bell, referring to the Bloomberg agency.
[...]
Previously, American economists claimed that the average export price of Russian oil was USD 74, not around US d50, and the Urals discount to Brent as of late 2022 was only USD 7. As Ukrainian News Agency [alias Ukranews] earlier reported, India will adhere to the "price ceiling" for Russian oil....

by Cat on Fri Mar 24th, 2023 at 05:53:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 price cap mania (none / 0)

eurostat | Crude oil imports and prices: changes at CYE 2022
a half-assed "Advance Market" linear function with data visualiztion

illustrating "sustainable" oil consumption

by Cat on Wed Mar 29th, 2023 at 12:07:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

SIDEBAR price cap WTI mania (none / 0)

US to auction ["]Gulf of Mexico["] oil under climate ~~compromise~~ transition action plan

The Biden administration will auction oil and gas leases across more than 114,000 square miles (295,000 square kilometers) in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday in a sale mandated by last year's ~~climate bill~~ Inflation Reduction Act compromise.
[...]
Developing the leases for sale in public waters in the Gulf of Mexico could produce more than 1 billion barrels of oil and more than 4 trillion cubic feet (113 billion cubic meters) of natural gas over 50 years, according to a [Jan 2023 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, US Dept. of Interior 656 pp] analysis. Burning that oil would increase planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions by tens of millions of tons, the analysis found.

unlocking NOPEC PUTIN-free EU supply chain value!

[...]
"It showed that the Biden administration is likely trying to strike a balance between energy transition and energy security," said [analyst Sami] Yahya with S&P Global.
The Department of Interior sale comes two days before a deadline set in last year's ~~climate bill~~ Inflation Reduction Act that Biden signed into law [AP 18.08.22]. The measure prohibited leasing public lands for renewable power unless tens of millions of acres are first offered for fossil fuels. That was a concession to get support from West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin, a fossil fuels industry supporter.
[...]
"Chevron plans to produce from its Gulf of Mexico leases for decades into the future," said Trent Webre, a Chevron manager in the region.
[...]

by Cat on Wed Mar 29th, 2023 at 02:58:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Politico.eu.com | EU woos ["]outside countries["] for joint ammo-buying scheme, 4 Mar
"In theory, the more countries that participate, whether they're in or out of the EU, the easier it will be to find the money and negotiate bigger contracts."

by Cat on Sun Mar 5th, 2023 at 11:59:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

WORLD

afriquemedia.tv | Second Russia-Africa International Parliamentary Conference is held in Moscow

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Feb 28th, 2023 at 11:18:32 PM EST

World POWs "messaging system" (none / 1)

another bi-lateral currency pair WARNING

India [INR] and Sri Lanka [LKR] are discussing shifting away from the US dollar [USD] to settlements using the Indian rupee, as the two countries look to strengthen their partnership through trade and investments.
Rupee settlements are expected to derive benefits like shorter [clearing] timelines, lower [transaction] costs [ie. spread] and easier availability of trade credits for participating financial institutions. The initiative may also have a beneficial impact on the nations' respective tourism and hospitality industries.

parity watch
LKR:USD, 1:0.0030
LKR:EUR, 1:0.0029
LKR:GBP, 1:0.0025
LKR:RMB, 1:0.02
LKR:RUB, 1:0.23
LKR:INR, 1:0.25
INR:RMB, 1:0.08

A discussion of the issue, arranged by the High Commission of India, was held in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo last week.
"Representatives from the Bank of Ceylon, State Bank of India, and the Indian Bank shared their experiences and informed the audience that they had started carrying out INR-denominated trade transactions through respective Vostro/Nostro accounts after the creation of [an] enabling framework by the Reserve Bank of India [RBI] and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka [CBSL] in 2022," the commission said in a statement, seen by the PTI news agency.
[...]
Last year, Sri Lanka was hit by the worst economic crisis since the South Asian country declared independence from Britain in 1948. The crisis, initially caused by a shortage of foreign currency arising from the pandemic-related restriction of tourism [and imperial basket interest rate hikes], led to dire shortages of [imported] fuel, food, and basic necessities. The country's government didn't have the funds to pay for imports.

archived IMF imperial weighted basket cases, Hag Watch Int' Powerball in Imran Khan, Debt, IMF Vassal to America, currency reserve, The view from Sri Lanka, SCO dialogue partner

Incidentally, APsplainin why Pakistan bans media broadcasts of ex-PM Imran Khan speeches

...The development is the latest in a political tug of war between the former cricket star turned Islamist politician and the government of his successor, Shahbaz Sharif...

by Cat on Tue Mar 7th, 2023 at 05:51:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World POWs "messaging system" (none / 1)

kawsachunnews | transcript, 9 Mar

A speakers list which included DPRK, Venezuela, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Russia, Eritrea, Syria, and China voiced opposition to the methods of the expert group and the use of unverified findings to call for additional unilateral coercive measures. The 300-page report* (Spanish version) is based on false accounts and allegations and is demonstrably and egregiously selective in its presentation of evidence since the group systematically excluded a large quantity of local sources, including major Nicaraguan news channels which published highly relevant material and reports on specific incidents during the period in question (2018).

* not found; 2 Mar 2023 Group of Human Rights Experts (GHRE) on Nicaragua report is 19 pp; NB. Aside from US sanctions against the Sandinista regime since 2007, Nicaragua either abstained or voted against Ukraine resolutions in the UNGA, 2022-2023.

reference
UNHRC | Nicaragua: Crimes against humanity being committed against civilians for political reasons, investigation says, 2 Mar
OHCHR Press Conference: Launch of the First Report of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua 02MAR2023, 2 Mar A/V (EN. ES) press briefing
Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua | resolution 49/3 of 31 March 2022 mandate and 2 Mar 2023 report (ES) 19 pp *.doc
UNHCR | Council Concludes its General Segment, 3 Mar
United Nations Assistant Secretary-General (SSG) for Human, Ilze Brands Kehris:"The Human Rights Situation in Nicaragua Continues to Erode"; ASG | Oral update
press
2022 archive:CNN Taken Down for Violating Nicaragua's Constitution, Nicaragua authorizes entry of Russia law enforcement,...
Nicaragua deports 222 | Nicaragua frees 222, 9 Feb 2023
kawsachunnews | Nicaragua is run by women with a Revolutionary Feminism, 30 Jan 2023 interview

On Clearing the FOG, Margaret Flowers* of Popular Resistance recently interviewed Jill Clark-Gollub, who recently returned from a delegation to Nicaragua that focused on conditions for women. She describes the country as "run by women" who connect their feminism to the struggles against capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy. Clark-Gollub also dispels misinformation about Nicaragua being promoted in the US corporate media and explains how the US is working to undermine the gains of the Sandinistas through hybrid warfare....

* FWIW, my 2016 MD-senate vote; she's no vanHo.

by Cat on Sat Mar 11th, 2023 at 01:19:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

archived (none / 1)

Nicaragua v United States (1986), proposed ICJ precedent cited in the complaint Ukraine v. Russian Federation", 7 Mar 2022

The United States refused to participate in the proceedings, arguing that the ICJ lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. The U.S. also blocked enforcement of the judgment by the United Nations Security Council and thereby prevented Nicaragua from obtaining any compensation.

by Cat on Sat Mar 11th, 2023 at 10:40:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World POWs "messaging system" (none / 0)

Human rights huh. Who needs them?()
Not the governments of DPRK, Venezuela, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Russia, Eritrea, Syria, and China. Nuff said.

() Humans

I STILL remember when Ortega was a good guy.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Mon Mar 13th, 2023 at 03:30:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World POWs "messaging system" (none / 0)

almayadeen | Widodo urges Indonesia to abandon Visa, MasterCard to be 'independent', 16 Mar

[...]
According to the president, the initiative "shows that Indonesia is following the pace of digital technology transformation in the economic sector."
"Be very careful. We must remember the sanctions imposed by the US on Russia. Visa and Mastercard could be a problem," he warned.
This is in light of the implementation of a Domestic Government Credit Card payment system in March last year by the world's seventh-largest economy in terms of GDP. It also follows after US-based Visa and MasterCard payment systems suspended operations in Russia as a response to the war in Ukraine.
[...]
Widodo had already announced that he won't join the sanctions campaign against Russia. Statistics Indonesia data that was released last month indicated that the country's economy expanded by 5.31% in 2022, showing its best annual growth rate since 2013.

by Cat on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 02:09:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Pablo Neruda : In shock news (none / 1)

that will surprise no-one...

he was indeed poisoned by Pinochet's goons.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 02:17:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

World POWs "stress test" (none / 1)

geo.tv | Mystery heist: Missing uranium from Libya sparks concerns, 16 Mar

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi told the organisation's member states that inspectors on Tuesday [14.03.23] found that 10 drums [2.5 tons | mt | tonnes] containing uranium ore concentrate ["yella cake"] "were not present as previously declared" at the location in Libya.
The IAEA will conduct further activities "to clarify the circumstances of the removal of the nuclear material and its current location", it said in a statement, without providing further details on the site.

BBC | Libya uranium: Tonnes gone missing, UN says, 16 Mar

[...]
Inspectors fear the uranium could pose a radiological risk, and also have concerns over nuclear security.The IAEA said that the site where the uranium was stored was not in government-controlled territory.
[...]
It was removed from a very remote location in southern Libya, where there were "lots of ungoverned areas", according to Scott Roecker from the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a global security organisation working on nuclear issues.
"If you're removing this material from this location you must really want it," he told the BBC's Newsday programme, adding that the quantity that appears to have been taken is "approximately one tenth [!] of the amount of material" stored at the facility "so you would absolutely see it missing".
[...]

Sputnik | Libyan Army Says Forces Have Recovered Uranium Barrels Declared Missing by IAEA, 17 Mar

Soldiers of the Libyan National Army (LNA) recovered barrels with natural uranium that had been earlier reported missing by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), LNA Moral Guidance Department [!] chief Khaled Mahjoub said on Thursday.
[...]
"These barrels were found in the area located just five kilometers [three miles] away from the storage in the direction of Chad," Mahjoub said in a statement. The army official stated that the people that had stolen uranium barrels did not know what was inside them and what danger they might pose to health. He added that members of Chadian militia groups could be involved in the incident, looking for ammunition. Mahjoub also called for international help in order to safely store the materials in Libya.

by Cat on Fri Mar 17th, 2023 at 01:14:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World POWs "stress test" (none / 1)

sputnik | Mali Bolsters Military Arsenal with New Warplanes, Drones Courtesy of Russia, Türkiye, 17 Mar

Malian-Russian military cooperation has been deepening since late 2021 given the West African nation's war on terrorists and drug traffickers, and the French troop pullout with the security crisis persisting in the country after France's ten-year military presence there.
[...]
A delivery ceremony took place at the Presidential Pavilion at President Modibo Keita International Airport in Bamako and was attended by Malian interim President Colonel Assimi Goita, Prime Minister of Transition Choguel Kokalla Maiga, Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs Colonel Sadio Camara, along with the ambassadors of Russia and Türkiye. According to Mali's air force chief, General Alou Boi Diarra, around 20 Russian fighter jets and a dozen Turkish drones have been received.
"These new weapon systems composed of several Bayraktar TB2 type drones and L-39 ALBATROS fighter planes are the fruit of the partnership between Mali and the Russian Federation and the Republic of Türkiye," said Camara, adding that Moscow and Ankara are "reliable and sincere partners of Mali."
[...]

archived France was perhaps the biggest winner

time | Australia's Former Leader Calls AUKUS Nuclear Submarine Pact 'Worst Deal in All History', 15 Mar: "Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said the deal was necessary to counter the biggest conventional military buildup in the region since World War II."

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's remarks on the IAEA Director General's latest statement in relation to the AUKUS nuclear submarine cooperation on March 15, 2023
"...The AUKUS nuclear submarine cooperation marks the first time in history for nuclear weapon states to transfer naval nuclear propulsion reactors and large amounts of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium to a non-nuclear weapon state. There is nothing in the current IAEA safeguards system that can ensure effective safeguards, and there is no guarantee that these nuclear materials will not be diverted by Australia to build nuclear weapons...."

IAEA | Director General Statement in Relation to AUKUS Announcement, 14 Mar fait accompli
"...The AUKUS Parties have safeguards obligations which need to be implemented in accordance with their respective safeguards agreements and additional protocols with the Agency...."

whitehouse | FACT SHEET: Trilateral Australia-UK-US Partnership on Nuclear-Powered Submarines, 13 Mar: "...AUKUS demonstrates our shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and an international system that respects the rule of law, sovereignty, human rights, and the peaceful resolution of disputes free from coercion. AUKUS partners operating highly capable conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines will provide an assured undersea capability that contributes to stability, peace, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and around the world...."

carnegie tank | Why the AUKUS Submarine Deal Is Bad for Nonproliferation--And What to Do About It, 21 Sep 2021: "...Discussion of the nonproliferation implications of AUKUS has been largely relegated to a handful of nuclear experts who, like debate nerds at a high school party, are soberly arguing over the finer points of nonproliferation policy on Twitter while everyone else gets intoxicated on grand strategy...."

by Cat on Fri Mar 17th, 2023 at 01:51:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World POWs Stalker 2 Watch (none / 1)

euractiv | Blinken brings US [150M] to Sahel for fight against Islamist insurgencies, 17 Mar

Blinken's visit to Niger is the first by a US Secretary of State and a strong show of support for an impoverished nation that has had relative success in containing rebel groups and managed a democratic transition in a coup-prone region.
[...]
Shortly after landing in the capital Niamey, Blinken met with people involved in a program, partly funded by the US, to disarm and rehabilitate [read: de-radicalize] defectors from extremist groups.
Right choices
While violence in Mali and Burkina Faso led to military coups and a shift in alliances away from Western nations and towards Russia, Niger managed a democratic transfer of power in 2021 and has retained smooth relations with the West.
[...]
"They're making the right choices, we think, to help deal with the kind of threats that are common across the Sahel. So, we're trying to highlight a positive example," a senior State Department official told reporters.
The official praised Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum
...In addition, we have our colleagues from the Millennium Challenge Corporation [!] working on additional compacts on a regional basis that will make a difference in Niger. And I'm also pleased that on the security side - and I know we'll have an opportunity to talk about that - we have delivered and will continue to deliver important equipment - for example, armored personnel carriers that are vital in the important efforts that Niger is making to advance regional security....
for speaking out against Russia's private Wagner group of mercenaries, which has been hired by Mali's junta to help fight insurgents there. Mali describes the Wagner personnel on its territory as "trainers".
[...]
Blinken traveled to Niger from Ethiopia, where he met on Wednesday with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and other government figures in an effort to repair the diplomatic damage caused by the two-year war in Tigray that ended in November.

by Cat on Fri Mar 17th, 2023 at 07:52:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World POWs "stress test" (none / 0)

🚨THIS IS THE OUTRAGE AUSTRALIA NEEDS🚨

"This deal shackles us to the United States of America -- removes the question in the minds of any of our regional neighbors as to whether, when the United States says jump, we answer 'How high and would you like a back flip sir?' And I... https://t.co/GGrSxFJNc1
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) March 22, 2023

by Cat on Wed Mar 22nd, 2023 at 02:07:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: World POWs "stress test" (none / 1)

archived EU attempts to revive ACP and Cotonou Agreements 2018
summitafrica.ru | Declaration of the First Russia-Africa Summit, 19 Oct 2019
• Establishment of Mechanism for Dialogue Partnership
• Political Cooperation
• Security Cooperation
• Trade and Economic Cooperation
• Legal Cooperation
• Scientific, Technical, Humanitarian, and Information Cooperation
• Cooperation in Environmental Protection
eurasiareview | Russian And African Parliamentarians Stand Against US In Africa, 20 Mar 2023

[...]
According to the experts, Russia's efforts for now are not practically showing tangible results. Russia has to open its doors more to African visitors and tourists, these could bring together anyone interested in expanding all-inclusive dialogue and anyone who is ready to help promote initiatives possibly for increasing socio-economic development between Russia and the African states and raise the well-being of their citizens.
Russia Wrote Off $20 Billion [Soviet-era] Debt Owed By African Nations, 2019
Russia has written off $20bn debt to African countries, 2023
According to the plan, Russian parliamentarians and African colleagues fixed topical issues of the international parliamentary agenda for discussions: parliamentary support of scientific and educational cooperation, legislative response to economic challenges, indivisible security: capabilities and contributions of parliaments, and neocolonialism of the West: how to prevent the repetition of history.
[...]
There was a bilateral meeting of the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin and Speaker of the National Assembly of the Parliament of South Africa Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula at the State Duma. The Speaker stressed that the Republic highly appreciated the dialogue with Russia.
[...]

The second Russia-Africa international parliamentary conference in Moscow brought together more than forty delegations from the continent. The first conference of 2019 was attended by participants from 36 countries. The growing number of participants confirms the special nature of the friendship ties between Russia and Africa. The two-day conference will conclude on March 20, as a prelude to a major Russia-Africa Summit to be held on July 27-28, 2023 in St. Petersburg.
duma.gov.ru | Points of view of African parliamentarians, 19-20 Mar 2023
The consultative forum aims to develop parliamentary cooperation between Russia and African states in the context of the emerging multipolar world. The two sides plan to synchronize their watches in the fields of science, education and security....

kremlin | International Parliamentary Conference Russia-Africa in a Multipolar World, 20 Mar PUTIN

[...]
By the way, let me note that at the same time, despite all the restrictions and limitations on the export of Russian grain, almost 12 million tonnes were sent from Russia to Africa.
I would also like to add that if we decide not to extend this deal after 60 days, Russia will be ready to supply the same amount that was delivered under the deal, from Russia to the African countries in great need, at no expense. (Applause.)
[...]

archived H.R.7311 - Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act, U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, COP27 "concessional financing"

by Cat on Tue Mar 21st, 2023 at 12:26:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]

POST TRUMP'S USA

"All in" Election 2024 stump speech for the sixth region of the African Union

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Feb 28th, 2023 at 11:18:51 PM EST

Re: March 2023 (none / 1)

by Cat on Thu Mar 2nd, 2023 at 02:38:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Bat Man ELECTION 2024 ring toss (none / 1)

Nikki Haley: I'll cut the billions in foreign aid we send our enemies, 24 Feb ancestral homeland

...I am running for president to restore our nation's strength, our national pride and our people's trust. Backing American allies and friends like Israel and Ukraine is smart. Sending our tax dollars to enemies isn't.
That's why I will cut every cent in foreign aid for countries that hate us. A strong America doesn't pay off the bad guys. A proud America doesn't waste our people's hard-earned money. And the only leaders who deserve our trust are those who stand up to our enemies and stand beside our friends.
I will be that president, just as I was that ambassador.....

Nikki Haley Makes Her Move, 2 Mar

...Haley's unique demographic profile and her conservative orthodoxy on most domestic policy issues will combine with her commitment to Israel to create a platform many GOP voters may consider....

by Cat on Thu Mar 2nd, 2023 at 04:24:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Bat Man ELECTION 2024 ring toss (none / 0)

Future of America assured ... even when Trump loses 🤡 in primaries

Trump's Iran Gambit: The World is 'Moving Toward Some Kind of a Crisis'

Ambassador Haley and her aggressive boss should tread carefully. Unlike Iraq, Iran is extremely capable of defending itself and has the regional clout that could trigger fire & fury for the Americans & its allies.
— Chris Fleming (@chr1sfleming) December 21, 2017

Likely John Bolton is willing to do a stint as VP?

Above and beyond any rightwing think-tank ...

Trump's Iran Gambit | WSJ - Hudson Institute |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Mar 2nd, 2023 at 06:03:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Bat Man ELECTION 2024 ring toss (none / 0)

APsplainin

"I would never run for president to sell books or position myself for a Cabinet role," the 66-year-old "Maglev" Hogan wrote in The New York Times. "I have long said that I care more about ensuring a future for the Republican Party than securing my own future in the Republican Party. And that is why I will not be seeking the Republican nomination for president."

HUMANITY dodges HISTORIC fuselage until further STRATEGIC notice.

by Cat on Sun Mar 5th, 2023 at 07:38:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Bat Man ELECTION 2024 ring toss (none / 0)

by Cat on Wed Mar 8th, 2023 at 01:29:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Bat Man ELECTION 2024 ring toss (none / 0)

Trump says he expects to be arrested Tuesday, 18 Mar
"in connection with the years-long investigation into a hush money scheme involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels and called on his supporters to protest"

by Cat on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 10:27:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Bat Man - Stalker Watch (4.00 / 2)

US, Russia hold HIGHEST-LEVEL talks since Ukraine invasion, 2 Mar

U.S. officials said Blinken and Lavrov chatted for roughly 10 minutes on the sidelines of the G20 conference of foreign ministers in New Delhi. But there was no sign of any progress and the conference itself ended with the grouping unable to reach consensus on the Ukraine war.
[...]
At a news conference [A/V (EN) 00:22:45], Blinken said he told Lavrov that the U.S. would continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes and would push for the war to end through diplomatic terms that Kyiv agrees to.
...I also had the opportunity to speak on the margins of today's meetings with counterparts from Nigeria, South Africa, Brasil, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, and, of course, India....
Blinken said he also urged Russia to reverse "its irresponsible decision and return to" participation in the New START nuclear treaty....Blinken said he also urged Moscow to release detained American Paul Whelan and that "the United States has put forward a serious proposal. Russia should take it."

reference
G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting (New Delhi, 1-2 March 2023) Summary & Outcome Document

All G20 Foreign Ministers agreed to paragraphs 1, 2 and paragraphs 5 to 24....

Blinken Wanted to Talk to Lavrov on Sidelines of G20, Moscow Says

"Blinken asked for contact with Lavrov. Sergey Viktorovich talked with him on the go, as part of the second session of the G20. There were no negotiations, meetings, etc.," [Russian FM spokeswoman Maria] Zakharova said.

archived Wang Yi on the margins of the Munich Security Conference

Politico | Cindy McCain tapped as head of World Food Program, 2 Mar

...The WFP position is apolitical < wipes tears > and the U.N. takes great pains to keep it that way. But McCain's experience campaigning for her husband [d. 2018] and relationships with U.S. politicians will be critical as she seeks to marshal resources for a record-high 349 million people suffering acute food insecurity globally, amid a geopolitical firestorm over the war in Ukraine, concerns about CHINA HOARDING global food supplies and, most importantly, calls for a pullback in funding support from members of her own ["right-wing extremist" Republican] party in the U.S. Congress.
The media outlet Devex first reported McCain was set to be tapped for the role.
While McCain has participated in decades of humanitarian work, her appointment last year [by J. BIDEN] as U.S. ambassador to [U.N. Food and Agriculture Agencies] marked her first formal role in food policy. In that post, which is based in Rome, she has been part of a small cadre of U.S. diplomats working to limit the damage from Russia's war in Ukraine, which has sent global food prices sky-rocketing and threatened to destabilize dozens of fragile countries already on the brink of widespread hunger.
[...]
McCain will replace David Beasley [!], the World Food Program's current executive director and the former Republican governor of South Carolina. People close to Beasley say he would likely consider pursuing a Senate bid [!] in his home state, should Sen. Tim Scott (R) run for president in 2024 [!] or Sen. Lindsey Graham Cracker (R) retire in the next few years.

archived Ukraine wants grain deal to be extended 1 year with new ports

by Cat on Thu Mar 2nd, 2023 at 05:49:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Bat Man - Stalker Watch (none / 0)

Incredibly rare Batman debut Detective Comics could sell for $1.5M

It's so sought after that it's gonna get crazy attention.

by Cat on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 06:37:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Bat Man - Stalker Watch (none / 0)

whitehouse | Background Press Call Previewing the Vice President [Harris]'s Trip to Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia, 24 Mar "sixth region of the African Union"

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hey, thanks, [operator]. And hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us this evening.
To set the ground rules, tonight's call is on background, attributed to "senior administration officials." And the contents are embargoed until Friday, March 24th, at 5 o'clock a.m. Eastern. Again, that's 5:00 o'clock a.m. Eastern. I know some of the invites had a different time, but this is embargoed until 5:00 a.m. By joining this call, you are agreeing to the ground rules [!].

< wipes tears >

The speakers today, you have myself, from the Office of the Vice President, Kamala?! Harris, you have [senior administration official], and you also have [senior administration official] on the line, hereinafter all referred to as "senior administration officials."
So I will kick us off by just saying, as you know, the Vice President is traveling to Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia. This is a follow-up to the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022, in an effort to make good on President Biden's commitment that we are, quote, "all in" with Africa.
archived US-Africa Leaders Summit roundup
Her visit is the fifth major trip from a senior administration official since the summit, and it comes on the heels of travel by Secretary Yellen, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield, the First Lady, and Secretary Blinken, most recently.
[...]

ancestral homelands

the Vice President announced in December the creation of the President's Advisory Council on African Diaspora [in the US] Engagement [PAC-ADE].
And lastly, on people-to-people ties, as many of you know, when the Vice President was a young girl, she traveled to Zambia [FKA Northern Rhodesia]. Her maternal grandfather -- which is her Indian grandfather -- was a civil servant in India who worked for several years in the Zambian government on refugee resettlement issues shortly after Zambia gained its independence [from UK, 24 October, 1964]. So the Vice President [b. 20 Oct 1964] is very much looking forward to returning to Lusaka, which is a part of her family's story and a source of pride. And we will have more to say on this as we get closer to that portion of our trip.
[...]

whitehouse | FACT SHEET: President Biden Submits to Congress 10-Year Plans to Implement the U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, 24 Mar USAID

The U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability is a long-term initiative to re[-]define how the United States prevents violence and advances stability in areas vulnerable to conflict. Under the bipartisan Global Fragility Act [Pub. L. 2019], the U.S. government is implementing this Strategy through 10-year plans developed with extensive consultations with local stakeholders [sic] in our ["]priority partner["] countries and region: Haiti, Libya, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, and [5/16 ECOWAS member states] Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo. The U.S. government is investing resources, including through the Prevention and Stabilization Fund [Pub. L. 2019], to bolster these country and region-specific plans.
[...]
For more information on our work to implement the Strategy, please visit this [US State Department] website.

by Cat on Sun Mar 26th, 2023 at 06:28:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Bat Man - Vibranium Tour (none / 1)

HARRIS: .... I request your ability to oversee the lands that you oversee and to visit the place that you have not mentioned but the place I will go next ...

Omanhene / Oguahene / Oguaamanhene

Paramount Chief of Cape Coast Oguaa Traditional Area, Ghana, and professional accountant: Osabarima Kwesi Atta II (AKA Joseph Kwamena Sekum Haizel) from the Fiekessim House of Nana Birempong Cudjoe Ebiraze Royal Family Stool

reference
Akan / Asanti / Ashanti ethnic groups
four Anglo-Ashanti Wars
German Rule in Colonial Ewedome, 1890-1914
Protests against Amalgamation in Colonial Ewedome, British Mandated Territory, 1920 to 1948
Contact with Europe and its effects, 1471-2020 Akufo-Addo election

Briefing Room
whitehouse | Vice President Kamala Harris's Meeting with President Nana Akufo-Addo
whitehouse | Remarks by Vice President Harris During Visit to Vibrate Studio
whitehouse | Toast by Vice President Harris at a State Banquet Hosted by President Akufo-Addo

ELECTION 2024 publicity

reuters | Who holds Ghana's debt and what restructuring is planned?, Sep 2022
aljazeera | Ghana suspends payment of most external debts, Dec 22
aljazeera | IMF agrees to Ghana $3bn debt bailout, Mar 2023
gbcghanaonlline | Ghana to join Atlantic Basin Cooperation

Ghanaweb | Is Kamala Harris in Ghana to discuss LGBTQ+?
citinewsroom | Your comments on anti-gay bill undemocratic - Bagbin to Kamala Harris

by Cat on Wed Mar 29th, 2023 at 12:50:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Bat Man - Stalker Watch (none / 1)

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John KIRBY, 21 Mar

KIRBY:MR. KIRBY: I know there's -- I know there's been a lot of interest around the meeting between President Xi and President Putin in Moscow today, so we'll get at that. I just wanted to stop by and be available to you for that.
Before I do, I do want to quickly speak to the joint statement [22.03.23, 00:11 ] between the PRC and Russia that they put out today on deepening their cooperation, including on Ukraine.
On the afternoon of 21 March local time, President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin jointly signed and released* the Joint Statement of the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era at the Kremlin in Moscow.
On the Ukraine issue, the two sides believe that the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter must be observed and international law must be respected. The Russian side speaks positively of China's objective and impartial position on the Ukraine issue. The two sides oppose the practice by any country or group of countries to seek advantages in the military, political and other areas to the detriment of the legitimate security interests of other countries. The Russian side reaffirms its commitment to the resumption of peace talks as soon as possible, which China appreciates....
[...]
So, now, if China wants to play a constructive role here in this conflict, then they ought to press Russia to pull its troops out of Ukraine and Ukrainian sovereign territory. They should urge President Putin to cease bombing cities, hospitals, and schools; to stop the war crimes and the atrocities; and end the war today. It could happen right now.
Now, with that, I'll take some questions.
Q: The statement also says, "The Russian side speaks
positively of China's objective and impartial position on the Ukraine issue." Do you see China as having an impartial position on this?
MR. KIRBY: No. We don't.
Q: How do you interpret The Statement™ then?
MR. KIRBY: Well, certainly I'm not going to do a book review on their statement. They can do that. They can speak to their words. But I don't think you can reasonably look at China as impartial in any way. They haven't condemned this in -- this invasion. They haven't stopped buying Russian oil and Russian energy.

oh. no. The Mirror Crack'd.

President Xi saw fit to fly all the way to Moscow, hasn't talked once the President Zelensk*, hasn't visited Ukraine, hasn't bothered to avail himself of the Ukrainian objective. And he and his regime keeps parroting the the Russian propaganda that this is somehow a war of the West on Russia, that it's some sort of existential threat to Mr. Putin. That's just a bunch of malarkey. Ukraine posed no threat to anybody, let alone Russia. So, no, it can't be seen that Russia [?] is impartial....

CBS KIRBY-Content!, 26 Mar

[...]
MARGARET BRENNAN: Tension with China has never been this high.
KIRBY: There we are. And look, we understand that. And the President has said clearly, he believes it's important to keep the lines of communication with China open, he wants to have another conversation with President Xi, we'll move in that direction. But these transits are normal, particularly for this particular president.
MARGARET BRENNAN: No date for that call with President Xi yet?
KIRBY: No date for that call.

* This "readout" excerpt is a pointed message to NATO readers: Stop asking. The full text of this joint statementa (communique) and the other one (8-point Joint Statement by the President of Russia and the President of China on the Plan to Promote the Key Elements of Russian-Chinese Economic Cooperation until 2030) is quite long, comprehensive foundation for 12 development MOUs signed 21 Mar. Exclusively published by kremlin.ru, ahem, beyond NATO retail politicking pale.

by Cat on Sun Mar 26th, 2023 at 11:19:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

SIDEBAR: The Bat Man - Stalker Watch (none / 1)

RIA.ru | Reuters: China showed no interest in Biden's desire to talk with Xi Jinping, 25 Mar

The Chinese leadership is not interested in organizing a telephone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden, Reuters reported, citing sources. [24.03.23]
Little room for maneuver as U.S.-China TIES slide further
...A source familiar with that [10-min Blinken Munich confrontation] called it the most antagonistic U.S.-China engagement since contentious talks in Alaska early in the Biden administration. The person said China had declined to coordinate the meeting, FORCING the State Department's top East Asia diplomat, Daniel Kritenbrink, to personally track down Wang Yi at the conference center to ask whether it would happen.
[...]
The source said frictions were also exacerbated by Biden's State of the Union speech three days later in which he appeared to question Xi's standing on the world stage, ENRAGING officials in Beijing.
[...]
The official said Washington was open to China's views on whether to conduct a Xi-Biden call or reschedule a trip to China by Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed due to the balloon incident. Rick Waters, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for China, Taiwan [sic], and Mongolia, is currently in China and a person familiar with his plans said he would likely seek to lay the groundwork for Blinken to visit.
[...]

Earlier in March, White House spokesman John Kirby told CNN that Biden was keen to speak to his Chinese counterpart but had not yet scheduled a call. Kirby later said that Washington hoped the talk would take place at "the right time," but that the Chinese leader is "pretty busy" for the time being.....

by Cat on Mon Mar 27th, 2023 at 12:09:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: SIDEBAR: The Bat Man - Stalker Watch (none / 1)

... but that the Chinese leader is "pretty busy"

That's a fact! 🇨🇳 😂

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 27th, 2023 at 02:25:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: SIDEBAR: The Bat Man - Stalker Watch (none / 0)

So Joe has been demoted to a counterpart from being a good old friend ... just "old" pretty soon 😉

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon Mar 27th, 2023 at 02:28:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Bat Man - Stalker Watch (none / 1)

Politico.eu.com | Zelensk* to Xi Jinping: Come to Ukraine, 29 Mar

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensk* on Wednesday invited his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to Ukraine, for what would be the first direct communication between the two leaders since the beginning of Russia's all-out war on Ukraine.
"We are ready to see [Xi] here," Zelensk* said in an interview with the Associated Press, a U.S. newswire, on a train to Kyiv, adding, "I want to speak with him."

hold my beer Chinese peace principles for the war in Ukraine

"I think some of the Chinese proposals respect international law, and I think we can work on it with China," the Ukrainian president said earlier this month. Ahead of Xi's visit to Moscow last week, the Wall Street Journal [!] reported the trip would give the Ukrainian and Chinese presidents an [inexplicable] occasion to speak over the phone.
archived China's Xi Plans to Speak With Zelensk*
But [Ukraine, China] talks did not take place, and the Xi-Putin [state visit] ended with both leaders endorsing [two] joint statements that ~~seemed to back Russia's narrative~~ do not include Ukraine at all, making no offer to withdraw Russian forces from Ukraine while blaming NATO expansion for sparking the war [FALSE].

APsplainin | smells, 29 Mar

If Bakhmut fell to Russian forces, their president, Vladimir Putin, would "sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran," Zelensk* said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press.
"If he will feel some blood -- smell that we are weak -- he will push, push, push," Zelensk* said in English, which he used for virtually all of the interview.

wut

"The United States really understands that if they stop helping us, we will not win," he said in the interview.
[...]
"We can't lose the steps because the war is a pie -- pieces of victories. Small victories, small steps," he said.
[...]
In his AP interview, Zelensk* extended an invitation to from Ukraine to one notable ~~and strategically important~~ leader who has not made the journey, Chinese President Xi Jinping [who is neither at war with the RF nor a NATO member].
"We are ready to see him here," he said. "I want to speak with him. I had contact with him before full-scale war. But during all this year, more than one year, I didn't have."

harmless "tactical" DU ammo for UA and M.A.D. "strategic" deterrencem silos

Putin announced that he would be deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which neighbors Russia and pushes the Kremlin's nuclear stockpile < wipes tears > closer to NATO territory. Zelensk* suggested Putin's move was intended to distract from the lack of guarantees [?!] he received from China.
"What does it mean? It means that the visit was not good for Russia," Zelensk* speculated.
[...]

10 days ago Kirby-content

by Cat on Wed Mar 29th, 2023 at 04:11:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Bat Man - Stalker Watch (none / 0)

I think not ... Xi Jinping recognizes Zelenskyy too is a busy man traveling from one photo-op to the next. Xi already declared China, contrary to the United States, will not sell weapons to parties at war. Both Ukraine and Russia have stated repeatedly, the time for negotiations has not been reached. The battlefield will declare the winner and Putin should go first ... too much blood has already been lost in vain.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Mar 29th, 2023 at 07:49:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

< wipes tears > (none / 0)

"a busy man"

by Cat on Wed Mar 29th, 2023 at 11:31:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Bat Man Cyber Space (none / 1)

whitehouse | FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces National Cybersecurity Strategy, 2 Mar "Five Pillars"

Read the full strategy here
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration released the National Cybersecurity Strategy to secure the full benefits of a safe and secure digital ecosystem [sic] for all Americans. In this decisive decade, the United States will reimagine cyberspace as a tool to achieve our goals in a way that reflects our values: economic security and prosperity; respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; trust in our democracy and democratic institutions; and an equitable and diverse society. To realize this VISION [and eNtiTiES], we must make fundamental shifts in how the United States allocates roles, responsibilities, and resources in cyberspace. ...

whitehouse | Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials Previewing the Biden-⁠Harris Administration's National Cyber Strategy, 1 Mar [5:02 P.M. EST] teleconference published 2 Mar

MODERATOR: Hi everyone. And thanks for joining. This is [Moderator] from NSC [National Security Council].
Before we get started, a quick housekeeping: Everyone on this call should have received the embargoed copy of the factsheet and an embargoed version of the strategy. All of that is embargoed until 5:00 a.m. tomorrow for reference. If you haven't, please reach out to Michael Morris from ONCD [Office of the National Cyber Director], and he'll be able to help you out. But with that, I guess we'll get to it. ...

by Cat on Thu Mar 2nd, 2023 at 08:01:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Bat Man Cyber Space (none / 0)

CSPAN | Hearing on Twitter Documents About Content Moderation Decisions, 9 Mar
A/V (EN), running time 02:37:58

The House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government [members] held a hearing to examine internal Twitter [email] documents concerning content moderation decisions made by the social media company. These documents were often referred to as the "Twitter Files," and were made public in December 2022. Journalist Matt Taibbi and author Michael Shellenberger were among those given access to the documents. Both testified for more than two hours on what these documents contained, with a focus on alleged [!] First Amendment rights suppression by Twitter. Lawmakers from both parties throughout the hearing engaged in tense exchanges over the content of these documents.

archived Sat Dec 3rd 2022, Thu Dec 15th 2022, Sun Dec 25th 2022, Fri Jan 6th, 2023 substack

by Cat on Fri Mar 10th, 2023 at 11:01:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Bat Man Cyber Space (none / 1)

background
• Reuters | U.S. opens national security investigation into TikTok, 1 Nov 2019
• CNBC | Trump orders ByteDance to divest from its U.S. TikTok business within 90 days, 14 Aug 2020
• Reuters | ByteDance picks Oracle as partner to try to save TikTok U.S, 14 Sep 2020
• CNBC | Trump has agreed to deal in which TikTok will partner with Oracle and Walmart, 19 Sep 2020
• Donald Trump-era ban on TikTok dropped by Joe Biden, 21 June 2021

foreground
Bloomberg | US Demands TikTok's Chinese Owners Sell Stakes or Face Ban, 15 Mar

The company, which is undergoing a national security review by Cfius [UK-Eng. alert], agreed last year [2022] to implement a number of changes in a plan it calls Project Texass.

investopedia | U.S. Government Pressing ByteDance to Sell TikTok, 16 Mar 2023

...The committee is led by the Treasury Department and is tasked with reviewing foreign investments in the U.S. President Biden expanded the scope of the [U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States] CFIUS in September 2022 with Executive Order 14083 in light of the 'evolving national security threat' that foreign technology poses....

US antitrust farce

A ~~divestiture~~ equity sale, which could result in a ~~sale~~ private placement or initial public offering [IPO], is considered a ~~last resort~~ exit strategy
How to Invest in TikTok Stock in [2022]
ByteDance launched TikTok in China under the name Douyin in 2016 before launching it internationally in 2017 using the TikTok name. In August 2018, TikTok ~~merged with~~ bought ["Shanghai-based", Silicon alley-funded] Musical.ly and entered the U.S. market.
[...]
Why do people want to invest in TikTok?
Neither TikTok nor ByteDance is publicly traded right now, meaning that investing money directly in TikTok or ByteDance isn't possible yet. Nevertheless, there is no shortage of reasons to desire this type of investment.
to be pursued only if the company's existing proposal with national security officials doesn't get approved, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing non-public information.

archived China is hurting our kids with TikTok but protecting its own youth with Douyin

by Cat on Tue Mar 21st, 2023 at 04:07:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

CHINESE tiktok espionage (none / 0)

How a methane digester works

[📹acorn_land_labs: https:/t.co/4Phl6kWO4x]
[read more: https:/t.co/qHlPmXHWr7]pic.twitter.com/rBe5NU5kyx
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) March 19, 2023

by Cat on Tue Mar 21st, 2023 at 05:48:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Bat Man Cyber Space (none / 0)

Summit for Democracy 2023, 28-30 Mar
video conference format, featuring "Thematic Day"

Partnering for Democracy: New Approaches for Reform
9:00 am-4:45 pm - The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will host a full-day, four-session event, led by Administrator Samantha Power, that highlights new approaches and partnerships that strengthen democracy, human rights, and governance. The first session will highlight USAID and our partners' efforts to surge resources to reformers during democratic openings. Session two will feature USAID's new People Centered Justice (PCJ) approach to ["]Rule of Law["] programming, and will highlight the Rule of Law and People Centered Justice Multistakeholder [sic] Cohort's Declaration and Call to Action. Session three will identify new approaches to addressing inequality and building trust in societies. Session four will focus on the work of the USG-led Financial Transparency and Integrity (FTI) Multistakeholder [sic] Cohort, including launching the Cohort's Pledge and Call to Action, and will highlight how USAID is modernizing its support to anti-corruption reformers.
A Just and Lasting Peace in Ukraine
9:00 am-10:00 am - The U.S. Department of State will host a panel session, chaired by Secretary Antony Blinken, about the need for a Just and Lasting Peace in Ukraine. The virtual gathering will feature the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensk*, discussing his vision for a just and lasting peace, along side Foreign Ministers from a regionally diverse group of countries. This gathering will provide an opportunity to hear various perspectives on the elements needed to end Russia's war and establish a durable peace in Ukraine in line with principles contained in the UN Charter.
The Complex Path to Achieving Democratic Dividends
10:00 am-11:30 am - The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) will co-host a panel session to examine the linkages between democracy, economic growth, and poverty reduction. The session, chaired by MCC CEO Alice Albright and NED Chairman Kenneth Wollack, will explore the challenges that democracies and aspiring democracies face in responding to citizens' needs, and how MCC and the NED provide support to bolster institutions and build resilience around democracy and economic growth. The session will highlight experiences from Cote d'Ivoire and The Gambia, where both MCC and NED have been working to help governments meet citizen's needs, with participation by the governments of each country and prominent civil society representatives.
[...]

by Cat on Tue Mar 28th, 2023 at 11:11:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Mental disorder is a communicable disease. (none / 0)

People`s Republic of.. Russia 🤣 pic.twitter.com/FMMQ3JtdSB
— Russian Market (@runews) March 3, 2023

confusing geopolitical "Russophobia" analysts

by Cat on Sat Mar 4th, 2023 at 03:20:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Mental disorder is a communicable disease. (none / 0)

Mental disorder is a communicable disease

Which is why I should avoid following random Twitter links.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Tue Mar 7th, 2023 at 01:29:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Mental disorder is a communicable disease. (none / 0)

U.S. Says Intel Suggests Pro-Ukrainian Group Sabotaged Nord Stream Pipelines - NYT, 7 Mar

...There was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy or his top lieutenants were involved, or that the perpetrators were acting at the direction of any Ukrainian government officials, the newspaper reported, citing U.S. officials....

< wipes tears >

by Cat on Tue Mar 7th, 2023 at 06:39:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Mental disorder is a communicable disease. (none / 0)

zeit.de | Nord Stream investigations: Traces lead to Ukraine, 7 Mar

amirite

by Cat on Tue Mar 7th, 2023 at 06:49:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Mental disorder is a communicable disease. (none / 0)

NY Yella Cake gotta yella cake

...U.S. officials said there was much they did not know about the perpetrators and their affiliations. The review of newly collected intelligence suggests they were opponents of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, but does not specify the members of the group, or who directed or paid for the operation. U.S. officials declined to disclose the nature of the intelligence, how it was obtained or any details of the strength of the evidence it contains. They have said that there are no firm conclusions about it, leaving open the possibility that the operation might have been conducted off the books by a proxy force with connections to the Ukrainian government or its security services....

[INCONTINENCE ALERT]

U.S. officials said no American or British nationals were involved....

by Cat on Tue Mar 7th, 2023 at 06:54:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

New Sabotage Narrative Launched by NY Times (none / 0)

All credit bestowed on Ukrainian divers 🇺🇦 🤡 🤥

The Seymour Hersh report was silenced in Western NATO bloc of nations ....

In first two hours:

Quite some coordination in unity war propaganda #WeAreNato #clowns 🤡

New York Times and History Iraq War Lies Judith Miller etc etc

CIA jewels joining hands with journalists, editors, newspapers, tv broadcasts a film industry Hollywood -- Operation Mockingbird and MKULTRA
.
Posted earlier in my diary on the Seymour Hersh report and government "whistleblower" ... sabotage infrastructure of an ally.

Seymour Hersh, widely regarded as the US's finest investigative journalist, has written a lengthy exposé detailing how President Biden secretly ordered the blowing up of the Nord Stream pipeline. Why is this story not dominating the news?

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Mar 7th, 2023 at 07:09:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: New Sabotage Narrative Launched by Zeit.com (none / 0)

zeit.de | Wohl nicht von innen gesprengt, 4 Mar map corresponding to three identical leaks

[...]
In 70 Meter Tiefe erkundete ein Tauchroboter den Tatort. Die Aufnahmen zeigen eine zerstörte Röhre, die teilweise bis zu sieben Meter aus dem Boden ragt. Das Material hat Greenpeace dem Sprengstoffexperten Fritz Pfeiffer vorgelegt. In seinem Bericht kommt Pfeiffer zu dem Schluss, dass für das Ausmaß der sichtbaren Zerstörung Sprengstoffmassen von 200 bis 500 Kilogramm nötig gewesen seien. Krater neben der Pipeline legten zudem nahe, dass an dieser Stelle mehrere Ladungen gezündet worden seien. Diese hätten "weitgehend zeitgleich" ausgelöst werden müssen, um die sichtbare Zerstörung zu bewirken, urteilt Pfeiffer.
Doch wer könnte dafür verantwortlich sein? Dazu bleibt der für Greenpeace erstellte Bericht erwartungsgemäß vage. Die notwendigen Materialien seien theoretisch für alle Staaten zugänglich, schreibt Pfeiffer. Eine Verfügbarkeit für nicht staatliche Organisationen könne aber nicht ausgeschlossen werden. Der These, dass die Stränge mit einer Art Drohne von innen aufgesprengt worden sein könnten, erteilt der Sachverständige zumindest für den untersuchten Abschnitt eine Absage. Die Aufbiegung der Röhren sei vielmehr "auf den Innendruck und die lokale Kompression durch eine Stoßwelle" zurückzuführen.

by Cat on Wed Mar 8th, 2023 at 12:29:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]

What Sabotage Narrative Launched by NY Times? (none / 1)

telepolis.de | "Anschläge auf die Nord-Stream-Leitung aufklären", 2 Mar Bundestag

by Cat on Wed Mar 8th, 2023 at 12:34:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]

pravda LOL! (none / 0)

Although I enjoy collecting amusing conspiracy theories about 🇺🇦 government, I have to say: 🇺🇦 has nothing to do with the Baltic Sea mishap and has no information about "pro-🇺🇦 sabotage groups". What happened to the Nord Stream pipelines? "They sank," as they say in RF itself...
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) March 7, 2023

by Cat on Tue Mar 7th, 2023 at 08:28:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Bat Man disorder is a communicable disease. (none / 1)

PUTIN's WAR Inflation Reduction CLIMATE subsidy edition

WaPoo | A mile-long line for free food offers a warning as covid [CARE Act] benefits end, 4 Mar

[...]
Over the past year, 18 states, including Kentucky, ended official states of emergency and rescinded the covid food benefit. For the other 32 states as well as the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, Congress mandated in December that the extra help sunset in [11] March.
The [reduction] of federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP] benefits is part of a broader effort by the government to unwind some of the billions of dollars spent to help protect jobs or boost incomes for Americans during the pandemic. Over the past 18 months, the federal government has halted enhanced unemployment benefits and ended pandemic-era child tax credits.
[...]
The ["]average["] SNAP recipient's benefits are expected to be cut about $90 per month, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. An even greater reduction is looming for many senior citizens and the working poor who get assistance from other government programs and will qualify for less. Many senior citizens on food stamps in Kentucky saw their monthly food benefit drop from $281 to $22 last year after the state emergency ended in May, according to Feeding Kentucky, a network of local food banks...

yahoo! | Powell tells Congress rates will likely be 'higher than previously anticipated', 7 Mar

"The latest economic data have come in stronger than expected, which suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated," Powell told the Senate Banking Committee in prepared remarks. "If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes."
[...]
The Fed projected at its December policy meeting interest rates would need to rise to a range of 5%-5.25% this year, though Powell's comments now suggest rates will need to eventually rise above this level.

archived 2 weeks ago

by Cat on Wed Mar 8th, 2023 at 12:14:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

The Bat Man disorder is a communicable disease. (none / 0)

hush trips have entered the hush money whisper list room.

by Cat on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 04:13:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Mental disorder is a communicable disease. (none / 0)

NY Yella Cake | Banned From Russian Airspace, U.S. Airlines Look to Restrict Competitors Flight Over Russian Airspace, 17 Mar

... many foreign airlines are not banned [BY WHOM?] from flying over Russia, U.S. airlines and their lobbyists say, and are winning more passengers [than U.S. airlines and their lobbyists] on routes to and from the United States as a result. Continued access to the shorter and more fuel-efficient routes that Russian airspace provides is giving carriers like Air India, Emirates[,] and China Eastern Airlines an < wipes tears > unfair advantage, the industry lobbying group Airlines for America said in a recent presentation on Capitol Hill. Airlines for America estimated the lost annual market share of U.S. carriers at a collective $2 billion per year [since 24 Feb 2022].
[...]
Now airlines are pressing the White House and Congress to fix the problem by subjecting foreign carriers from nations not ~~already~~ banned [by Russia] from Russian airspace to the same restrictions applied to U.S.[, EU, CA, and UK] airlines, effectively forcing them [foreign carriers] to fly the same routes as their American competitors.
The Biden administration should "take action to ensure that foreign carriers overflying [sic] Russia do not depart, land[,] or transit through U.S. airports," said Marli Collier, an Airlines for America spokeswoman.
The proposal appears to have gained traction with the [US Department of Transportation (DOT)], which recently drafted an order [sic] that would ban Chinese carriers that fly passengers to the United States from flying through Russian airspace, according to three people who were briefed on the order. The order was presented to a group of Biden administration officials, including members of the national security team, on Monday, two of those people said, and has been under consideration this week along with other proposed policy measures.
[...]

reference
UN ICAO | Freedoms of the Air
Labanon Law Review | Protection of Airspace Sovereignty under International Law
BTW ...
"Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in International Law Perspective" (2016)
Baker McKenzie | US Government Blocks Russian Aircraft from Using US Airspace, 2 Mar 2022
EASA | EU restrictive measures against Russia > Aircraft operations

by Cat on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 04:48:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

E or W flight path mileage challenge! (none / 0)

But the cost differential is notable. As of Wednesday, the outbound leg of an April round-trip journey from New York's Kennedy Airport to New Delhi's Indira Gandhi Airport cost about $1,500 and was estimated at 13 hours and 40 minutes on Air India, according to Travelocity. The most comparable flight [NY to IN?] on a U.S. carrier: a $1,740 American Airlines trip with estimated flying time of 14 hours and 55 minutes.

USD:INR parity watch

by Cat on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 05:00:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

LIVING OFF THE PLANET

IEA | Global CO2 emissions rose less than initially feared in 2022 as clean energy growth offset much of the impact of greater coal and oil use, 2 Mar

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Feb 28th, 2023 at 11:19:14 PM EST

Re: March 2023 ill-conceived headline (none / 1)

Risk of runaway emissions growth from shift to coal amid global energy crisis fails to materialise as renewables, EVs, heat pumps, efficiency, and other factors reined in CO2 rise Explore report
[...]
Although the rise in emissions last year was far smaller than the exceptional jump of over 6% in 2021, emissions still remain on an unsustainable [sic] growth trajectory, calling for stronger actions to accelerate the clean energy transition and move the world onto a path towards meeting its energy and climate goals, according to the new analysis, CO2 Emissions in 2022. The report is the first in a new series, the Global Energy Transitions Stocktake, which will bring together the IEA's latest analysis in one place, making it freely accessible in support of the first Global Stocktake in the lead-up to the COP28 Climate Change Conference in November.
archived CEO National Oil UAE Named Leader COP-28
Global energy-related CO2 emissions grew in 2022 by 0.9%, or 321 million tonnes, reaching a new high of more than 36.8 billion tonnes, according to the report. The rise in emissions was significantly slower than global economic growth of 3.2%, signalling a return to a decade-long trend that was interrupted in 2021 by the rapid and emissions-intensive economic rebound from the COVID-19 crisis. Extreme weather events including droughts and heatwaves, as well as an unusually large number of nuclear power plants being offline, contributed to the rise in emissions. But an additional 550 million tonnes of emissions were avoided by increased deployment of clean energy technologies.
[...]
CO2 emissions from coal grew by 1.6% as the global energy crisis continued to spur a wave of gas-to-coal switching in Asia, and to a lesser degree in Europe. While the increase in coal emissions was only around one-quarter of 2021's rise, it still far exceeded the last decade's average growth rate. The increase in emissions from coal more than offset the 1.6% decline in emissions from natural gas as supply continued to tighten following RUSSIA'S INVASION OF UKRAINE and as European businesses and citizens responded with efforts to cut their gas use.
CO2 emissions from oil grew even more than those from coal, increasing by 2.5% but still remaining below pre-pandemic levels. Around half of the year-on-year increase in oil's emissions came from aviation as air travel continued to rebound from pandemic lows.
[...]

Carbon dioxide emissions reached a record high in 2022

by Cat on Thu Mar 2nd, 2023 at 10:53:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

LNG Industry Fights to Weaken EU Climate Plans (none / 0)

NEW | Liquid Gas Industry Fights to Weaken EU Climate Plans Ahead of Key Vote

By @CookePhoebe with @journalismfund [_link]
— DeSmog (@DeSmog) March 7, 2023

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Fri Mar 10th, 2023 at 09:02:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 transition action plans (none / 0)

"assuming the government's climate and energy saving policies are implemented"

"Weltweite Entwicklung der Gasproduktionskapazitäten"(EWI:14), Afrika 2021-2035

DW | NGOs sue in French court over oil project in Africa, 28 Oct 2022. REDD+ is mostly dead.

Dickens Kamugisha, director of Uganda-based Afiego, a group promoting ["]good energy governance["], said Byakagaba's is not an isolated case. That's one of the reasons the group is among the plaintiffs in the Paris case along with France's Friends of the Earth (FoE) and Survie, and Uganda's CRED, Nape, and Navoda.
"More than 100,000 people are being displaced and tens of thousands haven't received any compensation payments or new stretches of land," he told DW, adding that he fears this could be just the beginning. "National parks and central forest reserves are under attack; lakes, rivers and wetlands will be affected," he said. "We are going to face much more problems."The group is also involved with five cases in Ugandan courts to stop various parts of the oil and gas project. It has also brought the matter in front of the East African Court of Justice, the judicial body of the East African Community, which includes Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.

Exit EU "eco tourism". Enter "climate finance"

"Through this court case, we are asking for a suspension of the Tilenga and Eacop works, as the oil drillings and pipeline buildings are imminent," [FoE employee Juliette Renaud] told DW. "But this legal case is only one tool in our fight, which goes further through national and international mobilization. We want TotalEnergies to abandon these projects."

euronews | Uganda condemns EU resolution slamming oil pipeline, 19 Sep 2022

By 2025, Uganda will have its oil coming out of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) as planned. Those were the comments of president Yoweri Museveni, who reaffirmed his determination to have the project completed.
His reaction came Friday following a resolution by the European Union's Parliament urging the international community "to exert maximum pressure on Ugandan and Tanzanian authorities, as well as the project promoters and stakeholders," to stop oil activities around Lake Albert.
Uganda is estimated to have recoverable oil reserves of at least 1.4 billion barrels. In February, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation [!] and TotalEnergies said that the total investment would be more than $10 billion. They have partnered with the Uganda National Oil Company and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation.

yahoo! F24 | French court dismisses NGOs' case against controversial TotalEnergies
projects in east Africa, 28 Feb 2023

SIGNS of "skilled" feminist foreign policy

...The court ruled the case "inadmissible", saying the plaintiffs did not correctly follow court procedures against the French energy giant.
Construction is to start this year on the 897-mile (1,443-kilometre) East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline planned by TotalEnergies and CNOOC that will run between Uganda and the Indian Ocean port of Tanga in Tanzania. Authorities have described it as the world's longest heated oil pipeline.
Uganda is estimated to have recoverable oil reserves of at least 1.4 billion barrels. That ecological fragility is one reason why some activists oppose the project despite assurances from Total Energies that the pipeline's state-of-the-art-design will ensure safety for decades.

F24 | Earth's 'green lung' rainforests take centre stage at talks in Gabon, 1 Mar

...French President Emmanuel Macron will preside over the two-day conference from Libreville in the heart of Africa's "green lung": more than 200 million hectares of forest spread over six countries, filled with biodiverse species found nowhere else in the world.
The One Planet Summit, launched by Macron, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and [2017] World Bank president Jim Kim ~~in 2017~~, will gather heads of state, NGOs, and scientists in Gabon's capital to discuss the best way to protect the vast tropical forest in the Congo basin as well as those in the Amazon basin and Southeast Asia. ...

Nord Stream pipeline explosions raise concerns for Baltic Sea ecosystem, 2 Mar 2023 fish kill

by Cat on Fri Mar 3rd, 2023 at 09:25:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 transition action plans (none / 0)

Denmark hopes to pump some climate gas beneath the sea floor, 8 Mar APsplainin

An international consortium including chemicals giant INEOS and gas and oil producer Wintershall Dea said Project Greensand in Denmark's North Sea will be the world's first cross-border carbon storage project.
Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik gave the symbolic order to begin pumping CO2 into the depleted reservoir of the Nini West oil field [2006], 50 years after his father Prince Henrik celebrated the start of oil and gas exploration off the Danish coast....

archived Sleipner CO2 Storage Site in Norway in Energy as a System, Systems as Synergy

by Cat on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 04:24:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 transition action plans (none / 0)

Clean energy exec selling oceanfront Miami Beach property for record price

His company Future Environmental focuses on effective waste management solutions.

by Cat on Sat Mar 11th, 2023 at 06:53:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 transition action plans (none / 1)

thediplomaticaffairs | The Bystroye Canal: is Ukraine illegally dredging and how is this affecting the Danube Delta?, 28 Feb exports

Originally the distributary of the Danube Delta was among the main Soviet (and Soviet Ukraine) waterways until 1959, when its exploitation stopped due to silting that occurred after Romanian authorities created their own Danube - Black Sea Canal, away from the border with the Soviet Union. After 1997, Ukraine was left without its own deep-water canal between the Danube and the Black Sea, and, according to the Ukrainian NGO International Centre for Policy Studies, the use of the Romanian Sulina distributary costs Ukraine 0.7-1.2 million UAH annually.
Therefore, Ukraine wanted to reopen its own navigation canal, which, according to official Ukrainian plans, it was to be completed in 2008. The intent was to provide a deep-water route from the Danube to the Black Sea under Ukrainian control, in order to reduce ship transit costs and provide an alternate route to Romania.
[...]

PUTIN's unprovoked war of aggression!

Initial dredging started in 2004, but, on August 24th, around 140 non-profit organisations and trade unions submitted an open letter at the Ukrainian embassy in Bucharest, Romania saying the project may endanger more than 280 bird species and 45 freshwater fish species living in the delta. "If Ukraine goes ahead with its plan ... the delta will become a fetid swamp," said a statement by one of the unions. Despite this, on August 26th, Ukraine officially inaugurated the project and the Romanian government announced plans to bring a lawsuit against Ukraine at The Hague-based International Court of Justice [ICJ], invoking the Ramsar Convention on wetlands.
[...]

The Social Democrat party, which is part of the current coalition in charge of the Romanian Government, issued a statement demanding that Ukraine immediately stops the dredging works on the Bystroye canal, because "they are an ecological disaster" and draws Kiev's attention to the fact that Romania will not allow the destruction of the Danube Delta. The social democrats emphasized that Romania, has and will always be, an honest partner for Ukraine and asks its neighbors to be opened to discussions. "The unprecedented deepening of the Canal, up to 8-10 meters, to enable the navigation of large-capacity ships, dramatically changes the flow and circulation of water, with fatal effects on the biodiversity of the Danube Delta. Romania has proven to be an honest neighbor and partner. It received millions of Ukrainian refugees, provided them with a home, food, jobs for adults and schools for children. Facilitated the export of Ukrainian grain, with great effort and considerable cost. Provided international support, and support in every possible way for Ukraine to resist the Russian invasion. Ukraine had and will have an ally in Romania. That is precisely why it is all the more obliged to protect this bilateral relationship. " said the Vice-President of PSD Sorin Grindeanu. PSD has also officially asked the European Commission, through Victor Negrescu, to rule on Ukraine's unilateral action that ignores international conventions and agreements to which it is a party of.
[...]

archived Romanian MEP Daniel Buda read a message, Oder River modernization, Ecocrimes of the Russian Federation

by Cat on Sun Mar 19th, 2023 at 07:57:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 transition action plans (none / 0)

APsplainin hypoxia: Millions of rotting fish to be removed from Outback river, 20 Mar

Contractors are being hired to remove millions of rotting fish from a river in the Australian Outback after a UNPRECEDENTED die-off following floods and hot weather, police said on Monday.
The fish started dying in the Darling River near the New South Wales town of Menindee on Friday. Officials say the die-off likely occurred because fish need more oxygen in hot weather, but oxygen levels in the water dropped after recent floods receded.
[...]
"I understand and acknowledge the smell and sights on the river -- nobody wants to see that," [Police Assistant Commissioner Brett] added. Authorities were supplying potable water to residents who rely on river water, which was continually being monitored for quality, Greentree said.
[...]
Enormous fish kills also occurred on the river at Menindee during severe drought conditions in late 2018 and early 2019. Greentree said the current death toll appeared to be far larger than the events in 2018 and 2019.

archived recurring wildlife offense in Crisis as Discipline, NPI Systems Design 2022

by Cat on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 04:33:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

transition action plans [INCONTINENCE ALERT] (none / 0)

euractiv | EU triggers [CAP] CRISIS FUND to bail out farmers hit by Ukraine grain [glut], 21 Mar
€56M evil pinkie

[..]
On Monday (20 March), Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski communicated to the EU-27 agriculture ministers the decision to activate the agricultural reserve in a bid to ease the burden for European farmers impacted by the recent increase in Ukraine's ~~grain imports~~ PRICE DUMPING*.
The bulk of the EU aid - €30 million - is earmarked for Poland, while Bulgaria and Romania will get €17 million and €10 million, respectively.
[...]
The total amount of the aid could be even doubled to €112 million as the Commission allows the three member states to co-finance the support measures using expenditures from their national budgets.
The issue was raised at the EU agriculture ministerial meeting in January by a group of six member states - Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria - complaining about the impact of the EU's so-called 'solidarity lanes' [passing through] EU countries neighbouring Ukraine.
[...]
Slovakia, Hungary[, Netherlands, possibly Italy] not included
...According to an EU source, Commissioner Wojciechowski told the EU ministers behind closed doors that limiting the support measures to three countries does not mean that farmers in other member states do not suffer from the current situation, but explained that their markets face much lower pressure from increased ~~imports from~~ Ukraine PRICE DUMPING....

euractiv EU transport industry dreams of the United States of Europe < wipes tears > NZIA

...It appears Europe's businesses are dreaming of American-style capitalism, with its more lax regulatory system and emphasis on carrot over stick for companies. Industry, in thrall to the spirit of the New World, will no doubt hope lawmakers will shift the text closer to the thinking of Boston than Berlin....

archived "dual-federalism" and Grants-In-Aid: 1860-1932, solidarity lanes, EU-Ukraine agri-food trade liberalisation, Farmers Protest in Shock Election Loss Rutte IV In Senate Race

* Single Market antitrust jargon of the month

by Cat on Tue Mar 21st, 2023 at 08:28:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: transition action plans [INCONTINENCE ALERT] (none / 0)

yer basic Red State red-neck opposition to fed, state, taxes and "entitlement" spending.

Polish PM opposes an EU federation, slams Brussels

"Do we really want a pan-European cosmopolitan elite with immense power but without an electoral mandate?" he asked.

by Cat on Tue Mar 21st, 2023 at 11:00:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

transition action plans [INCONTINENCE ALERT] (none / 1)

APsplainin why Ukrainian grain [glut] triggers protests in Poland, Bulgaria, 29 Mar

Poland's agriculture minister [Henryk Kowalczyk] met Wednesday with angry farmers to work out ways to stop grain prices falling amid a market glut from the [import] of huge amounts of Ukrainian produce that was supposed to go to Africa and the Middle East. Bulgarian farmers staged a border protest over the same issue.
[...]
In Bulgaria, hundreds of farmers on Wednesday began a three-day blockade of main checkpoints on the border with Romania to protest tariff-free imports of Ukrainian grain. They say some 40% of their crop from last year remains unsold amid huge supply, and there is no storage room just a few months ahead of the coming harvest.

wut

They displayed banners reading: "Stop the genocide of agriculture" and "We want to be competitive farmers."
[...]

MAKE ME WHOLE!

[AGROUnia exec. Michal] Kolodziejczak said Wednesday at least 8 billion zlotys (USD 1.8 billion) is needed to compensate the farmers and improve infrastructure leading to transit ports, while Ukrainian grain should be directly sent to its places of destination and EU customs fees reapplied. He said he would not leave the meeting convened by Kowalczyk before satisfactory decisions are made.
[...]

8 days ago

by Cat on Wed Mar 29th, 2023 at 02:10:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

transition action plans [INCONTINENCE ALERT] (none / 0)

euractiv | EU triggers [CAP] CRISIS FUND to bail out farmers hit by Ukraine grain [glut], 21 Mar
€56M evil pinkie

[..]
On Monday (20 March), Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski communicated to the EU-27 agriculture ministers the decision to activate the agricultural reserve in a bid to ease the burden for European farmers impacted by the recent increase in Ukraine's ~~grain imports~~ PRICE DUMPING*.
The bulk of the EU aid - €30 million - is earmarked for Poland, while Bulgaria and Romania will get €17 million and €10 million, respectively.
[...]
The total amount of the aid could be even doubled to €112 million as the Commission allows the three member states to co-finance the support measures using expenditures from their national budgets.
The issue was raised at the EU agriculture ministerial meeting in January by a group of six member states - Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria - complaining about the impact of the EU's so-called 'solidarity lanes' [passing through] EU countries neighbouring Ukraine.
[...]
Slovakia, Hungary[, Netherlands, possibly Italy] not included
...According to an EU source, Commissioner Wojciechowski told the EU ministers behind closed doors that limiting the support measures to three countries does not mean that farmers in other member states do not suffer from the current situation, but explained that their markets face much lower pressure from increased ~~imports from~~ Ukraine PRICE DUMPING....

euractiv EU transport industry dreams of the United States of Europe < wipes tears > NZIA lobby

...It appears Europe's businesses are dreaming of American-style capitalism, with its more lax regulatory system and emphasis on carrot over stick for companies. Industry, in thrall to the spirit of the New World, will no doubt hope lawmakers will shift the text closer to the thinking of Boston [BWAH!] than Berlin....

archived "dual-federalism" and Grants-In-Aid: 1860-1932, solidarity lanes, EU-Ukraine agri-food trade liberalisation, Farmers Protest in Shock Election Loss Rutte IV In Senate Race

* Single Market antitrust jargon of the month

by Cat on Tue Mar 21st, 2023 at 08:32:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 transition action plans (none / 0)

euractiv | Green industry: 'Buy less Chinese' instead of 'buy European', 20 Mar "CRM Club" waste management strategery

[...]
One particular objective is to reduce Europe's dependency on China, which currently dominates manufacturing of many ["]clean tech["] products, such as solar PV cells.

arbitrage

.So far, options were limited, as EU state aid rules obliged EU countries to grant public support [subsidies? no-low interest loans? deferred loans?] for renewable energy [] projects with the lowest price and allowed only non-discriminatory "non-price criteria" [?!], such as environmental criteria, to make up a maximum of 30% of [computed] weighting [?] when comparing bids.

min - max "net-zero" deviation

The new [Single Market] proposal would see the 30% upper limit maintained but also adds a 15% minimum requirement for weighting [qualitative] "sustainability and resilience contributions", which could include environmental standards, energy system integration, and risk management [?!] measures.
The transition to a climate neutral, clean economy and the corresponding overhaul of our [Single Market] energy system present significant opportunities in terms of developing the net-zero technology sectors and creating quality jobs and growth [read: profit]. The global market for key mass[-]manufactured net-zero technologies is set to triple by 2030 with an annual worth of around EUR 600 billion. Our partners and competitors have grasped this opportunity and are deploying ambitious measures to secure significant parts of this new market [read: value chain]. These developments are also driven by security of supply considerations...
It also allows public authorities to consider the "proportion of the products ~~originating~~ imported from a single source of supply [...], from which more than 65% of the supply for that specific net-zero technology within the Union originates". Experts say this would only affect products made in China or [Türkiye], as those are the only two countries that surpass the 65% threshold for some of the products covered by the [Net Zero Industry Act].
[...]
The proposed law now explicitly refers to the WTO's plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), which forbids [?] signatory countries, including the European Union, to discriminate against each other in public procurement procedures.
...At present, the Agreement has 21 parties comprising 48 WTO members. Thirty-five WTO members/observers participate in the Committee on Government Procurement as observers. Out of these, 11 members are in the process of acceding to the Agreement.
The fundamental aim of the GPA is to mutually open government procurement markets among its parties. As a result of several rounds of negotiations, the GPA parties have opened procurement activities estimated to be worth more than [USD] 1.7 trillion annually to international competition (i.e. to suppliers from the GPA parties offering goods, services, or construction services)....
Since neither China nor [Türkiye] has signed this agreement, the EU "does not run the risk of violating its obligations under the WTO GPA" with the proposed clauses, [Bruegel expert David] Kleimann said....However, according to the draft law, governments can circumvent the rule if it leads to a price increase of 10% or more, which is considered "disproportionate".
"This 10% threshold makes the rule even less likely to bite," Kleimann said, noting that the EU has already introduced price surcharges [read: customs tariffs] on multiple Chinese products that vary between 10% and 80% to counter price dumping [read: < prevailing EU27 "origin" TCO], which often still left Chinese products cost-competitive to those manufactured elsewhere.
[...]

so goes "quasi-monopoly" advantages

by Cat on Mon Mar 20th, 2023 at 06:29:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 transition action (none / 1)

Europe experienced second-warmest winter on record, 9 Mar
"The average temperature in Europe from December to February was 1.4 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average for the Boreal winter season, according to data published by the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S)."

How close are we to reaching a global warming of 1.5˚C?
Reaching 1.5˚C of global warming—a limit agreed under the Paris agreement—may feel like a very distant reality, but it might be closer than you think. Experts suggest it is likely to happen between 2030 and the early 2050s. See where we are now and how soon we would reach the limit if the warming continued at today's pace. Use the slider to explore how the estimate changes in time.

📈 Most of western and southern Europe experienced drier-than-average conditions
📈 Winter was the joint second warmest on record for Europe
📈 Antarctic daily sea ice extent also reached an all-time minimum
More ☞ https://t.co/i1x0g4qLMQ pic.twitter.com/yItHwnBwVh
— Copernicus ECMWF (@CopernicusECMWF) March 8, 2023

by Cat on Fri Mar 10th, 2023 at 12:35:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

LIVING ON THE PLANET

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Feb 28th, 2023 at 11:19:32 PM EST

Re: March 2023 ISS commuters (none / 0)

SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying UAE astronaut docks with ISS after technical issue, 3 Mar

... SpaceX Crew 6 mission docked at the ISS approximately 24 hours since its launch on Thursday.
On board Crew 6 is Emirati astronaut Sultan Al-Neyadi who is the second Arab to carry out lengthy space mission. NASA's Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, Russia's Andrey Fedyaev all boarded the station about two hours later from docking, the livestream showed.
[...]
[The space station] has remained a rare venue of cooperation between Moscow and Washington since the Russian offensive in Ukraine placed them in sharp opposition.

trivia

The Crew-6's Dragon capsule, named Endeavour, lifted off at 12:34 a.m. EST on Thursday March 2, 2023, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The first attempt to launch them was called off Monday at the last minute because of a clogged filter in the engine ignition system.
They will replace a US, Russian, Japanese crew that has been up there since October.
The other station residents are two Russians and an American whose six-month stay was doubled until September after their Soyuz capsule sprang a leak. A replacement Soyuz arrived last weekend.
[...]
Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman was the first Arab in space, launching aboard shuttle Discovery in 1985....

by Cat on Fri Mar 3rd, 2023 at 10:17:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Can the dogs of Chernobyl teach us new tricks on survival?, 3 Mar catastrophic introgression

[...]
Scientists hope that studying these dogs can teach humans new tricks about how to live in the harshest, most degraded environments, too.
They published the first of what they hope will be many genetics studies on Friday in the journal Science Advances, focusing on 302 free-roaming dogs living in an officially designated "exclusion zone" around the disaster site.
[...]

family entertainment Isle of Dogs (2018)

by Cat on Sat Mar 4th, 2023 at 02:26:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

deep-cover spy balloon Fact Check

by Cat on Sun Mar 5th, 2023 at 02:17:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Who's counting? (none / 0)

KHOU 11 (Texass) | Yes, the US averages more than 1,700 train derailments a year, 1 Mar

In early February 2023, 38 train cars derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The derailment prompted questions online about [vinyl choride] safety, as well as claims about the number of train derailments across the U.S. ...

by Cat on Tue Mar 7th, 2023 at 11:47:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

tabloid USAToday | Norfolk Southern head sidesteps responsibility for preventing East Palestine derailment, 22 Mar

APsplainin Pro-Moscow voices tried to steer Ohio train disaster debate

Soon after a train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals in Ohio last month [Feb. 3, CHINESE spy balloon crisis week], anonymous pro-Russian accounts started spreading misleading claims and anti-American propaganda about it on Twitter, using Elon Musk's new [!] verification system to expand their reach while creating the illusion of credibility.
The accounts, which parroted Kremlin talking points on myriad topics, claimed without evidence that authorities in Ohio were lying about THE TRUE IMPACT of the chemical spill. The accounts spread fearmongering posts that preyed on legitimate concerns about pollution and health effects and COMPARED THE RESPONSE TO THE DERAILMENT with America's support for Ukraine following its invasion by Russia.
[...]

incidentally
Politico | The growing CHINESE investment in illegal American weed, 21 Mar

[...]
What is known -- from interviews with state law enforcement officials, experts on the international drug trade, economists, and lawmakers -- is that the number of farms funded by sources traceable back to Chinese investors or owners has skyrocketed. Chinese owners and workers have become a larger presence at illegal [farms] in Oklahoma, California, and Oregon, they say.
In Oklahoma, close to 3,000 of the state's nearly 7,000 < wipes tears > licensed marijuana farms have been flagged for suspicious activity by law enforcement over the last year. Those operations are now being investigated for obtaining their licenses fraudulently or for selling into THE ILLIICIT MARKET, according to Mark Woodward, spokesperson for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.
[...]
Law enforcement in southern Oregon in 2021 reported as many as 20 DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES LINKED to illegal grows. But the increasing amount of Chinese funding -- and what lawmakers and some experts say is the potential influence of THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY -- has caught the attention of legislators and law enforcement alike.
"We've seen in recent weeks that the CCP's MALIGN INFLUENCE KNOW NO BOUNDS and, unfortunately, the cannabis industry is not immune to these tactics," Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio), a co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus and former prosecutor said in a statement to POLITICO, referencing a Chinese surveillance balloon spotted in early February over Montana.
[...]

"reference" is not a verb.

by Cat on Wed Mar 22nd, 2023 at 05:43:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

ICYM Feb 2023 American sciences (none / 0)

[...]
NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] Chair Jennifer Homendy spoke at a U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing just days after Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] Administrator Michael S. Regan told reporters that he believed Norfolk Southern [rail carrier] should be moving faster to remove contaminated soil from East Palestine, and push back legally if necessary if states aren't accepting waste - and that at the current rate, the site would take roughly three more months to clean up.
The Feb. 3 derailment near the rural town of 4,700 people along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border resulted in massive black plumes of smoke [aerial photo above] and concerns about air, water [gallery of animal carcases on YouTube] and soil quality. Five of the derailed cars contained the highly toxic carcinogen, vinyl chloride, which Norfolk Southern officials released and burned off to < wipes tears > prevent an explosion.
Misti Allison, a resident of East Palestine, described the anxiety of not knowing whether she is safe in her own home because of dangerous chemicals released during the controlled burn [photo above], which may cause damage that won't show up for years.
[...]

ppm story developing...
Here are the symptoms East Palestine residents reported experiencing in wake of derailment, 6 Mar
Psychosomatic effects may be contributing to the symptoms, 4 Mar

by Cat on Wed Mar 22nd, 2023 at 07:53:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

cyberchondria has entered the room.

by Cat on Tue Mar 7th, 2023 at 11:39:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Pentagon Sees Giant Cargo Cranes as Possible Chinese Spying Tools, 5 Mar

[...]
While comparably well-made and inexpensive, they contain sophisticated sensors that can register and track the provenance and destination of containers, prompting concerns that China could capture information about materiel being shipped in or out of the country to support U.S. military operations around the world. The cranes could also provide remote access for someone looking to disrupt the flow of goods, said Bill Evanina, a former top U.S. counter-intelligence official.
"Cranes can be the new Huawei," Mr. Evanina said, referring to the Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co., whose equipment U.S. officials have effectively banned after warning that it could be used to spy on Americans. "It's the perfect combination of legitimate business that can also masquerade as clandestine intelligence collection."
[...]

by Cat on Wed Mar 8th, 2023 at 03:57:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The fundamental error is to privatise sovereign assets such as port infrastructure and operation, and to expect no bad consequences.

You can hardly blame the Chinese for snooping on what is put under their noses.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 09:59:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 American social sciences (none / 1)

Florida textbook altered to remove references to Rosa Parks's race, 17 Mar Bandera edition

[...]
In the current lesson by Studies Weekly, which is used in 45,000 elementary schools, the event is described: "The law said African Americans had to give up their seats on the bus if a white person wanted to sit down."
But in an early version created for Florida's review by Studies Weekly, the lesson changed to: "She was told to move to a different seat because of the color of her skin."
In the group's second updated version, race is removed completely from the lesson: "She was told to move to a different seat."
[...]

by Cat on Sat Mar 18th, 2023 at 02:43:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Michelangelo Persona Non Grata In Florida (none / 0)

this interview is incredible which is to say, it is absolutely insane [_link]
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) March 24, 2023

How did the Bubonic Plague make the Italian Renaissance possible?
The Black Death (1347-1350) was a pandemic that devastated the populations of Europe and Asia. The plague was an unprecedented human tragedy in Italy. It not only shook Italian society but transformed it. The Black Death marked an end of an era in Italy, its impact was profound, and it resulted in wide-ranging social, economic, cultural and religious changes. These changes, directly and indirectly, led to the emergence of the Renaissance, one of the greatest epochs for art, architecture, and literature in human history.

"Plague in Early Islamic History," Journal of the American Oriental Society (1974)
GENOA, 12th - 15th cen. CE "triangle trade"
Barker, Hannah, Egyptian and Italian Merchants in the Black Sea Slave Trade, 1260-1500

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Mar 26th, 2023 at 07:09:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

most ignorant, litigious nation on planet REPORTS (none / 1)

by Cat on Sun Mar 26th, 2023 at 08:06:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

archived (none / 1)

NEW!
euronews | New research shows Leonardo da Vinci's mother was a slave and he was only half ["]Italian["], 16 Mar

...Speaking at the launch, Vecce told AFP: "Leonardo's mother was a Circassian slave... taken from her home in the Caucasus Mountains, sold and resold several times in Constantinople, then Venice, before arriving in Florence. In the Italian city, she met a young notary, Piero (Peter) da Vinci, "and their son was called Leonardo".
Vecce, who has spent decades studying the Renaissance figure, explained his findings are based on Florence city archives. His book, "Caterina's Smile'', features one particularly interesting document, apparently written by da Vinci's father himself. Dated 1452, it calls for the emancipation of Caterina, "to recover her freedom and recover her human dignity".
[...]

by Cat on Sun Mar 26th, 2023 at 08:03:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 scientific racism (4.00 / 2)

Ice Age Europeans found refuge in Spain, doom in Italy, 1 Mar missing link

[...]
Using new genetic analysis of prehistoric human remains, scientists were able to trace the fate of the Gravettian culture, a term used to describe the people who once roamed Europe and produced distinctive tools and art such as the voluptuous 'Venus' figurines found at ancient sites across the continent.
The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, highlights the impact that climate change and migration had on the early inhabitants of Europe.
[...]

family entertainment The 13th Warrior (1999), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
archived neandertal rehab

by Cat on Sat Mar 4th, 2023 at 03:12:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Great Replacement! (none / 0)

It's happenned before! It's still happening!

Personally, I am EXTREMELY relaxed about it. I'm not much of a racist I suppose (I think your racism concern-trolling with respect to this research is anachronistic : the concept of "race" being a 19th century construct, created for political purposes without valid scientific basis)

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Wed Mar 8th, 2023 at 03:38:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Would you prefer "human speciation"? (none / 0)

despite recurring, anachronistic reference to nation-states in the "scientific" litchitcher of teh Genome Project?

by Cat on Wed Mar 8th, 2023 at 07:36:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Would you prefer "human speciation"? (none / 0)

anachronistic reference to nation-states

that's called geography. If you want neutrality, you could just cite GPS coordinates. But it becomes harder to read.

Would you prefer "human speciation"?

That would be unscientific. The article concerns human genetic diversity, including populations isolated from each other for tens of thousands of years (notably during the last ice age), then subsequently interbreedingh. There is only one species of hominid extant (on this planet) : homo sapiens. Speciation of humanoids probably would require hundreds of thousands of years (thus, probably one-way inter-stellar tickets).

The thing about people is that they get around. As Darwin first determined, speciation happens when sub-populations are geographically isolated from each other and can no longer interbreed.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 10:12:19 AM EST
[ Parent ]

[INCONTINENCE ALERT] (none / 0)

That would be unscientific.

by Cat on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 02:46:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

[INCONTINENCE ALERT] (none / 0)

populations isolated from each other for tens of thousands of years

by Cat on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 02:50:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Britain's 'Cheddar Man' - Early Dutch Were Black (none / 0)

Early Dutch were dark-skinned and blue-eyed, dna research shows [_link]
— DutchNews.NL (@DutchNewsNL) March 2, 2023

The data about the early Dutch, based on the dna of eight pieces of human bone picked up off the Dutch coast by volunteers and found in fishermen's nets, form part of a huge genetic atlas charting the movements of hunter gatherers in Europe in the last 35,000 years.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Mar 8th, 2023 at 07:19:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

"dutch people"? (none / 0)

amirite

by Cat on Wed Mar 8th, 2023 at 07:37:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: "dutch people"? (none / 0)

That's the irony of the particular Great Replacement described in the article : the "Dutch", "French" etc hunter-gatherer populations, apparently black, were largely replaced by lighter-skinned people who migrated northwest from the Middle East.

Light skin seems to be associated with agriculture in higher latitudes (observed in the Middle East and Europe starting with the development of wheat domestication, and with rice in Asia)

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 10:55:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: "dutch people"? (none / 0)

wow, it says it all. didn't you read the articles? it is about the skin changing because of the sun, and that goes very quickly (see caribbeans) not with any sort of 'difference' inside people.

by Tom2 on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 11:01:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: "dutch people"? (none / 0)

When the facts change, my opinion changes. And I don't rely on the generalist press for my opinions about prehistory.

It had been thought that (historical) Europeans were white because they were European (i.e. phenotypic changes associated with living in higher latitudes with less sun, a white skin creates more vitamin D)

BUT the most recent research, enabled by DNA sequencing, seems to indicate that it's an extremely recent phenomenon (of the order of the last 10 000 years), correlated with the rise of agriculture (perhaps because agricultural folk typically have a much less varied diet than hunter-gatherers, tend to be shorter and less robust, and they weren't getting enough vitamin D from their wheat gruel and biscuits.

As noted, it happened in parallel in Asia, starting with the domestication of rice.

Feel free to educate yourself.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 01:24:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

"starting with... rice" (none / 0)

Thank you for this insight, Herodotus Jr.

by Cat on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 02:53:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Britain's 'Cheddar Man' - Early Dutch Were Black (none / 0)

Of course the bones were "Dutch" ... found in the nets of Dutch fishermen off the Dutch coastline ... dated some 30,000 years ago 😂 🇳🇱 🇫🇷 🇪🇸

Ice Age Survivors: Large-scale genomic analysis documents the migrations of Ice Age hunter-gatherers over a period of 30,000 years: [_link] #Archaeology @Senckenberg @PKU1898 @MPI_EVA_Leipzig pic.twitter.com/NyYnar1Tus
— Universität Tübingen (@uni_tue) March 1, 2023

European hunter-gatherers have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 02:55:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

blue eyes slipped the nets, huh (none / 0)

by Cat on Fri Mar 10th, 2023 at 11:12:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Britain's 'Cheddar Man' - Early Dutch Were Black (none / 0)

Dutch article linked to a study published recently in Nature ...

A 23,000-year-old southern Iberian individual links human groups that lived in Western Europe before and after the Last Glacial Maximum
Here we present genome-wide data from sites in Andalusia in southern Spain, including from a Solutrean-associated individual from Cueva del Malalmuerzo, directly dated to ~23,000 cal yr BP. The Malalmuerzo individual carried genetic ancestry that directly connects earlier Aurignacian-associated individuals with post-LGM Magdalenian-associated ancestry in western Europe.
This scenario differs from Italy, where individuals associated with the transition from pre- and post-LGM carry different genetic ancestries. This suggests different dynamics in the proposed southern refugia of Ice Age Europe and posits Iberia as a potential refugium for western European pre-LGM ancestry.
More, individuals from Cueva Ardales, which were thought to be of Palaeolithic origin, date younger than expected and, together with individuals from the Andalusian sites Caserones and Aguilillas, fall within the genetic variation of the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age individuals from southern Iberia.

Artists Have Been Painting Inside This Spanish Cave for 58,000 Years (Neanderthal) | Smithsonian - June 2022 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 02:57:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 European sciences (none / 0)

SoHo (Substances Of Human Origins)

euractiv | The 'substance' of the SoHo problem, 8 Mar garden supplies

In July, the EU executive presented a proposal to overhaul the current legislation on tissues, blood, and cells since rules and parameters on the matter were set more than 20 years ago.
The revision involves all the procedures that ensure the safety of donors and recipients of blood, plasma, skin, embryo, sperm, and corneas—with the recent addition of breast milk and microbiota.
MEPs have already started working on a draft report featuring amendments to the EU executive's [EC] proposal - which also replaced the acronym for the framework [Directive 2002/98/EC] from an old-school-sounding BTC (which stands for blood, tissue, and cell) to the fancier SoHo (substances of human origins).

Health Union donor compensation and collection

The first debate on the topic took place in the European Parliament's environment and health committee (ENVI) last week and focused on one of the most divisive [?!] problems - voluntary unpaid donations (VUD) in the EU.
The VUD principle is in line with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights which prohibits the commercialisation of the human body but "does not prevent compensation of living donors for loss of earnings and reimbursement of any other justifiable expenses related to the medical procedure".
The 'substance' of the SoHo problem is in a two-faced legislative framework when it comes to VUD: On one side, conditions under which compensation may be granted are left to member states' discretion, on the other, there is no such definition of ~~compensation~~ gift in the EU law.
[...]

EU27 price competition d/b/a incentives

The Parliament's rapporteur on the file, the French centre-right Nathalie Colin-Osterlé, stressed the need to "harmonise the implementation of the principle of voluntary and unpaid donation in particular to avoid divergence between national regulations encouraging citizens to go to a member state other than their own [to donate] just for financial reasons".
[...]

(brackets in original)

by Cat on Wed Mar 8th, 2023 at 06:39:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

SIDESHOW "transplant industry" AI (none / 0)

tabloid USAToday | The US organ transplant system is outdated - and costing lives. An overhaul is underway, 26 Mar donor "inclusion" algorithm

[...]
People of color make up 60% of the waitlist, but only about 35% of all donated organs are from nonwhite [?!] patients. While organs are not matched based on race and ethnicity, organs from donors of similar ethnic backgrounds [?!] are more likely to be a medical match [?!] for a patient. Moreover, a white person on the waitlist has about a 50% chance of getting a transplant each year. A Black patient has a 25% chance.
...Researchers believe this is where a large percentage of potentially viable organs are wasted, but the exact number is unknown due to inaccurate OPO [organ procurement organization] self-reporting and lack of transparent data. Additionally, research finds that "donation was seen as a powerful diversion from grief and provided 'relief, tranquility and a sense of purpose' to donor families" and yet families of color are systematically denied equal access to that vital component of the bereavement process....
People of color and those with disabilities [and "Black patients"] face disadvantages in getting transplants, referrals and wait longer, according to a panel of scientists from the renowned National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which detailed an analysis of the system in a report last year that urged an overhaul.
Black patients, for example, are four times as likely to develop kidney failure, yet less likely to be referred for kidney transplants and less likely to be placed on the waiting list.
[...]

WaPoo | New liver transplant rules yield winners, losers as wasted organs reach record high, 21 Mar 50 states and territories data visualization

To examine the impact of the new policy, The Post and the Markup, a nonprofit newsroom that covers [BIG DATA] technology's impact on society, analyzed five years of data obtained from federal health regulators through public records requests on donated livers, liver recipients and organ discards, as well as data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The analyses tracked where each organ originated, how far it was transported, and where it was ultimately transplanted. Thirteen states do not have a liver transplant program but have residents who donate organs; they were included only in the distance analyses.
[...]
UNOS operates a different algorithm for matching each of the various transplantable organ types to waiting patients. When a liver becomes available, UNOS's liver algorithm considers dozens of factors to find a recipient who is physically compatible (blood type, patient height) and has the greatest need (severity of illness, time on waiting list).
[...]

the money "factor"

To get on the list, patients need insurance or other means to pay for their treatment. They must show up for regular appointments, which often require access to a car and sometimes a friend or family member to drive. And they have to be able to pay for regular appointments before transplant surgery, weeks of recovery at the hospital afterward, and thousands of dollars a month in anti-rejection medication for the rest of their lives.... Lack of insurance leaves many people with no way to pay for a liver transplant, which can cost just shy of a million dollars.
"Everyone has to have insurance," said J. Steve Bynon Jr., chief of abdominal transplantation at Memorial Hermann in Houston, when asked about its policy. "There are no freebies."
[...]

by Cat on Sun Mar 26th, 2023 at 07:05:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

March 2023 Indo-European social sciences (none / 0)

Italy's language watchdog says 'no' to gender-neutral ~~symbols~~ declension, 21 Mar

[...]
"Legal language is not the right place for minoritarian innovative experimentations," the Accademia said in a six-page opinion that Reuters reviewed on Monday, after the Corriere della Sera newspaper first reported on it.
The Accademia said the Italian masculine plural form remains "the best instrument" to collectively represent "all genders and orientations", but also backed the wider use of the feminine form of professional titles.
In October, Italy's first woman prime minister, right-wing leader Giorgia Meloni, sparked controversy after saying the preferred her title of "Presidente del Consiglio" to be preceded by the masculine article "il", rather than the feminine "la".

FIFTH WAVE is a void.

by Cat on Tue Mar 21st, 2023 at 09:41:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

FIFTH WAVE disturbance in the farce (none / 0)

Barking mad? Commission chews over bring-your-pet-to-work policy
"Staff at the EU's executive could soon be allowed to bring their dog to the office."

DICTION CORNER What is agreement in grammar?

by Cat on Tue Mar 21st, 2023 at 10:03:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

ON THIS DATE

Ned Price to step down as State Department spokesperson and work directly for Blinken

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Feb 28th, 2023 at 11:19:49 PM EST

3 March 2023 (none / 1)

NY Yella Cake -100: Of fines, swallows, customs, and negris

France fines the Ruhr town of Kettwig 1 million marks, which is the equivalent of some money, after a telephone wire is cut, under the policy of fining communities if they can't find the person(s) responsible. They plan to collect this fine house-to-house.
[...]

Lord Keynes be, like, I told you so.
reference
JSTOR | THE FRENCH IN THE RUHR
gahbless Aaron Swartz

by Cat on Fri Mar 3rd, 2023 at 04:32:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

4 March (none / 0)

1866 — Bishop Simeon Francois Berneux, who arrived in Korea in 1851 to become its fourth bishop, is executed as part of a larger persecution of Western missionaries and their converts by Korea's [Joseon] rulers. The persecution, which lasted until 1871 and claimed the lives of some 8,000 Korean Catholics and nine foreign missionaries, was aimed at keeping Western influence out of the country. The first Catholic Church in Korea was established in 1784.

by Cat on Sat Mar 4th, 2023 at 06:41:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

SIDEBAR post-colonial hijinks (none / 0)

Hankyoreh | Yoon's March 1 speech widely panned as ahistorical, humiliating, dangerous, 3 Mar
"'How could the president of the Republic of Korea use such language? It sounded like the Japanese prime minister was making the commemorative address for the March 1 Independence Movement,' said Park Jie-won, former director of the National Intelligence Service, in a radio interview with MBC on Thursday."

Yonhap | U.S. supports Yoon's vision for S. Korea-Japan relations: State Dept, 2 Mar
"'When it comes to President Yoon, he has articulated a vision for a more cooperative, future oriented relationship with Japan based on the shared values that those two countries have together. We very much support this vision,' Price told a daily press briefing."

by Cat on Sat Mar 4th, 2023 at 07:10:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: SIDEBAR post-colonial hijinks (none / 0)

Korea Times | Editorial, 3 Mar
"Yoon also absolved the Japanese colonialists from their occupation of Korea by blaming the Joseon Kingdom more than a century ago. He said Korea lost its national sovereignty because it 'failed to properly prepare for a changing world.' There were no rebukes of aggressors, just parroting the colonial views of history injected by occupiers."

by Cat on Sat Mar 4th, 2023 at 07:15:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: SIDEBAR post-colonial hijinks (none / 0)

"Ned has helped the U.S. government defend and promote press freedom around the globe and modeled the transparency and openness < wipes tears > we advocate for in other countries. His contributions will benefit the Department long after his service," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

by Cat on Wed Mar 8th, 2023 at 01:56:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: SIDEBAR curtain call (none / 1)

Kasachun News | transcript

...Brazil had authorized the entry of two Iranian naval ships, "IRIS MAKRAN" and "IRIS DENA", at the Rio de Janeiro port, allowing them to dock [7 days,] from February 26 to March 4 2023.
U.S. ambassador Elizabeth Bagley had made an appeal for the Brazilian government to not allow the naval ships to dock in Rio. When pressed, the State Department spokesman refused to comment on whether existing unilateral coercive measures on the Islamic Republic and secondary sanctions would apply to Brazil, referring to the South American country as a U.S. "partner" 15 times....

by Cat on Fri Mar 10th, 2023 at 11:08:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

PEOPLE AND KLATSCH

Camp Lejeune (NC) Water Modeling Reports and Studies

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Feb 28th, 2023 at 11:20:11 PM EST

3 March 2023, Happy Oui Day! (none / 1)

Americans starting to ask questions....
💪💪

(Anne Applebaum being questioned) pic.twitter.com/ESvVSWu4Xt
— Richard (@ricwe123) March 3, 2023

by Cat on Fri Mar 3rd, 2023 at 11:06:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: 3 March 2023, Happy Oui Day! (3.50 / 2)

Richard is likely not a person, but an organization tackling (Western) war propaganda and disinformation 😀💪💪

Vladimir Putin asked NATO kindly not to expand in to the former USSR territory.
He expressed his concerns about NATO in the Munich summit years ago.
He even asked to join NATO.
Washington laughed.

Vladimir Putin did everything to avoid this war.

Now no one is laughing anymore pic.twitter.com/g55ghpIZrD
— Richard (@ricwe123) March 2, 2023

#underground #resistance #stopnato #stopwar fight for ☮️

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Mar 4th, 2023 at 05:08:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

animated (4.00 / 2)

#1 NATO expansion since 1986: Who is the aggressor?@elonmusk pic.twitter.com/bY8TVVb3kJ
— kanekoa.substack.com (@KanekoaTheGreat) February 25, 2023

by Cat on Sat Mar 4th, 2023 at 02:33:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Sam Insull Household Name Hall of Fame (none / 0)

Ex-Goldman banker gets 10-year sentence in 1MDB looting plot, 9 Mar

Roger Ng was convicted last April by a U.S. District Court jury in Brooklyn, but he continues to deny charges that he conspired to launder money and violated two anti-bribery laws.
[...]

post-colonial FTX caliber hyperbole

Ng's lawyers acknowledged the 1MDB looting was "perhaps THE SINGLE LARGEST HEIST in the history of the world," but said their client was the fall guy for Low [Taek Jho alias Jho Low] and a fellow Goldman Sachs banker [Lil Timmy Leissner] also charged in the $4.5 billion [embezzelment].
[...]

archived organized crime UPDATE

by Cat on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 11:41:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sam Insull Household Name Hall of Fame (none / 0)

Camp Lejeune health claims are mired despite law allowing suits
"Is this going to legally just take so long that most of us are dead before anything happens?"

by Cat on Sat Mar 25th, 2023 at 09:34:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Instead of weapons procurement? (none / 1)

Some estimates have put the minimum settlement expected for victims of Camp Lejeune's water at $10 million, and the Congressional Budget Office estimated last year that Camp Lejeune claims could cost the government more than $163 billion over 10 years.

Wonder of forensic science ...

A main source disposal from ABC One Hour dry cleaning off-base.

Earning my college fees in the sixties, I worked at a hardware store ... great experience as it was in the countryside ... spilled a bottle of Malathion ... nasty stuff .. remember the fogging of rural roads to kill mosquitoes .. some years later an oil spray to keep dust down was mixed with dioxin ... not very smart ... Times Beach UnInc.

Chemical contamination prompts evacuation of Missouri town

In a rural Dutch town, a local factory offered to pave roads with their products ... an asbestos factory. Nice ... consequenties only 30-40 years later.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Mar 26th, 2023 at 07:47:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Sam Insull Household Name Hall of Fame minute (none / 1)

@CarlZhan owns Fahran Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

"Do you think the presence of US militiary in Syria is illegal or not?"

by Cat on Wed Mar 29th, 2023 at 12:23:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sam Insull Household Name Hall of Fame minute (none / 0)

by Cat on Thu Mar 30th, 2023 at 01:59:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: March 2023 comedy (none / 0)

by Cat on Thu Mar 30th, 2023 at 02:04:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Idus Martias...

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/03/ukraine-open-thread-2023-56.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef02b7519 9a653200c#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef02b75199a653200c

Wake up, world!

by Tom2 on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 at 11:03:43 AM EST