Reader’s Links for September 20th, 2022

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Here is a link to the VladTepesBlog social media Mastodon Pod. Please feel free to check it out and sign up for an account if you are sufficiently annoyed with Twitter and Facebook to try something new.

Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

59 Replies to “Reader’s Links for September 20th, 2022”

  1. Eyes to see the sense of things
    No longer common to the hoard
    Eyes that brighten up the scene
    When light is blocked at every door
    Eyes to say just, “Hey, what’s that?”
    Or eyes wide shut with broken slats
    That focus through the lense of those
    More blind than any man before.

    Eyes that sound a thunderclap
    Each time they blink and say, “What’s that? It isn’t right, this thing you do, You’re twisting things beyond repair.”
    My mother, now, I’m sure despairs
    Beyond this world into her own
    Beyond this messy mortal zone
    She looks down-down into this soup
    This lumpy gruel of human goop
    And gives the world a great big slap
    “Now smarten up! How ’bout that?”

    Eyes now fresh up with the day
    Up with the rising sun to say
    “I vow right now to keep it short
    (Over-thinking nothing more)
    Speaking clearly to the blind:
    “You’ve lost your mind
    And I see quite fine.”

  11. UNBELIEVABLE: Reuters Hack Harasses Michigan Voter Integrity Group, DEMANDS THEIR TAX RETURNS – After They Post Video of Postal Workers and Others Dumping Stacks of Ballots into Drop Boxes!
    By Patty McMurray
    Published September 19, 2022 at 6:45pm
    2232 Comments

    Nathan Layne is a “journalist” for Reuters.

    On Twitter, Nathan regularly shares articles he’s written attacking Americans working to uncover voter fraud or close loopholes that allow individuals or groups to commit voter fraud in America. One of his favorite subjects is Matt DePerno, who is arguably the most popular MI GOP candidate to ever run for attorney general, and who has an excellent chance of defeating Michigan’s lawless Democrat AG Dana Nessel.

    Last week, after hunting for a special prosecutor willing to take her case for months, Nessel was able to find a Democrat prosecutor on the west side of the state who was willing to “investigate” DePerno’s role in the examination of a tabulator that a clerk voluntarily surrendered in northern MI. According to Nathan’s reporting, Michigan’s dishonest Sec. of State Jocelyn Benson

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/09/unbelievable-reuters-hack-harasses-michigan-voter-integrity-group-demands-tax-returns-post-video-postal-workers-others-dumping-stacks-ballots-drop-boxes/

  12. The death of young woman Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran’s so-called “morality police” in September has enraged people across the country, leading to three days of protests, strikes and sit-ins in the capital Tehran and in Iran’s Kurdish region. Security forces have responded with force, beating and arresting demonstrators, shooting live bullets, and limiting internet connection in the Kurdish areas of Iran.

    Mahsa Amini was 22 years old. The young Iranian woman was from Saqqez, a Kurdish city in western Iran, and was arrested in Tehran on September 13 by the notorious morality police known as “Gasht-e-Ershad”. Her crime: “not wearing proper clothing”.

    …

    “I have attended all the protests in the last few days and I will go again today. I am going to the main street where people are gathering and chanting and crying, and I will not wear a headscarf. I have sworn to myself that I will never wear a headscarf again, even if they kill me, torture me, I will not submit anymore. I see hundreds of women everyday doing the same.”

    https://observers.france24.com/en/middle-east/20220919-iran-morality-police-death-mahsa-amini-headscarf-protest

  15. A new study conducted by public health researchers at the University of North Carolina and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services uncovered new information on the efficacy of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in young people age 5 to 11.

    The research, funded in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, found that against the omicron variant of COVID-19, children in the study group ended up seeing negative — yes, negative — effectiveness some 20 weeks after being vaccinated after peaking between 60 and 70 percent effectiveness.

    The large cohort study tracked a 6-month window of time during which omicron was the dominant strain to see what protection was given by the Pfizer vaccine and by previous COVID infection — also known as acquired immunity — against COVID infection or COVID-related hospitalization and/or death.

    https://thinkcivics.com/nih-funded-study-doesnt-offer-great-news-for-vaccinated-children/

  16. Italian Scientists: “Climate Crisis” Is “Not Evident Yet”

    …

    Both the media and climate hysterics assure us that the so-called climate crisis is already here, and point to extreme weather events such as droughts and large scale flooding as proof that the Earth’s climate system is collapsing due to mankind’s emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

    But not so fast, according to the Italian team, which includes physicist Gianluca Alimonti, professor of agrometeorology Luigi Mariani, atmospheric physicist Franco Prodi, and physicist Renato Angelo Ricci. The team concludes in their study, published earlier this year, that “the climate crisis that, according to many sources, we are experiencing today, is not evident yet.”

    Mariani, Prodi, and Ricci were among 168 Italian signatories of the declaration “There is No Climate Emergency” signed by 1,100 scientists in June.

    While the four scientists are not what many might call “climate deniers” in that they believe that man’s emissions may indeed contribute to climate change, they nevertheless feel that it is counterproductive to frighten children about the issue with hysterical pronouncements of climate doom.

    https://thenewamerican.com/italian-scientists-climate-crisis-is-not-evident-yet/

  17. zero hedge – German Utility Giants Close To Massive LNG Deal With Qatar, But There Is A Catch

    About a decade ago, Europe had a good idea: pass a pipeline from natgas-producing giant Qatar through Syria, Turkey and into Europe, reducing or completely eliminating Europe’s reliance on Russian gas.

    We then get the entire staged ISIS interlude which captivated the world’s attention for several years, and which gradually faded away as CIA funding dwindled after Putin and Assad proved too powerful to be removed by western “liberators.”

    And just as fast as ISIS disappeared as quickly as it appeared, so did Europe’s ambitions of a natgas pipeline from Qatar.

    But while Qatar may not send gas by land, nothing prevents it from doing so by sea, and with Europe facing a historic energy crisis and desperate to try literally anything, overnight Reuters reported that German utility giants RWE and Uniper are close to striking long-term deals to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) – the kind that doesn’t need a pipeline but needs a rather expensive ship to transport it from expensive LNG terminal A to expensive LNG terminal B, or in this case from Qatar’s North Field Expansion project. Why? Simple: to help replace Russian gas, three Reuters sources said.

    […]German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to Saudi Arabia on Saturday for a two-day visit to the Gulf region that will also take him to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Scholz is expected to sign LNG contracts during his visit to the UAE, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said.

    […]there is a big catch to the proposed push to replace dependency on Russia with dependency on Qatar: simply said, while supply deals with Qatar would be positive for Germany, they would not offer an imminent solution to Berlin’s energy crisis – or even a near-term solution – as the vast North Field Expansion project is not expected to come online before 2026.

    The North Field Expansion project includes six LNG trains that will ramp up Qatar’s liquefaction capacity from 77 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 126 mtpa by 2027. Qatar has partnered with international companies in the first and largest phase of the nearly $30 billion expansion that will reinforce its position as the world’s top LNG exporter.

    Of course, there is another catch: as the recent unexplained accident at the Freeport LNG plant over the summer vividly demonstrated, LNG transit is extremely vulnerable to “weakest link” choke points: were the Russian leader so inclined, he could easily precipitate a handful of explosions at key facilities in the process crippling Qatar LNG exports for months if not years, while sending Europe back into the dark ages… again.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/german-utility-giants-close-massive-lng-deal-qatar-there-catch

    • europravda – The EU should be ‘very careful’ about capping gas prices, warns German minister

      Anna Lührmann said an EU-wide price cap on gas imports could endanger the bloc’s security of supply.

    • twitter @disclosetv

      JUST IN – EU adopts additional €5 billion assistance to Ukraine.

      https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1572161290289950724

      ==========================

      Council adopts additional €5 billion assistance to Ukraine

      The Council today formally adopted the decision to provide € 5 billion of additional macro-financial assistance (MFA) to Ukraine, as a matter of urgency.

      On 9 September, EU ministers for finance had agreed a statement in support of these additional €5 billion assistance for Ukraine at the informal Ecofin Council meeting in Prague. Today, this additional assistance was formally adopted, after the necessary formal steps were completed within just 11 days.

      This financial assistance complements other EU support to Ukraine in the humanitarian, development, customs and defence fields.

      The European Union stands by Ukraine. We deliver on our promises and help ensure that the Ukrainian state and its key infrastructure can continue to function despite Russia’s war of aggression. At the next Ecofin meetings, I will push for a swift agreement on the provision of the remaining €3 billion, for which we must also agree on the division of this amount into loans and grants.

      Zbyn?k Stanjura, Minister of Finance of Czechia
      This €5 billion macro-financial assistance will be provided to Ukraine in the form of highly concessional long-term loans. It constitutes the second stage in the implementation of the planned full Union’s exceptional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine for up to €9 billion, announced by the European Commission in its communication of 18 May 2022 and endorsed by the European Council on 23-24 June 2022.

      In addition, the decision adopted today equips the EU budget with the means to absorb the risk of losses on these additional loans as well as on the €1 billion loan adopted on 12 July 2022. The latter was fully disbursed in two tranches on 1 and 2 August 2022.

      This new MFA operation is part of the extraordinary international effort by bilateral donors and international financial institutions to support Ukraine at this critical juncture.

      This decision should be followed swiftly by the adoption of a further decision implementing the third stage of the planned full Union’s exceptional macro-financial assistance for a further amount of up to €3 billion, once the design of that assistance has been determined.

      Background
      The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which entered into force on 1 September 2017, brings Ukraine and the EU closer together. In addition to promoting deeper political ties, stronger economic links and the respect for common values, the agreement has provided a framework for pursuing an ambitious reform agenda, focused on the fight against corruption, an independent judicial system, the rule of law, and a better business climate. The EU has shown continuous support for these reforms, which are crucial for attracting investments, boosting productivity and lifting the standards of living in the medium term.

      Among other support instruments, between 2014 and 2022 the EU supported Ukraine through several consecutive macro-financial assistance (MFA) operations that exceeded € 7 billion of loans and grants.

      Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine since 24 February 2022 has caused Ukraine a loss of market access and a drastic drop in public revenues, while public expenditure to address the humanitarian situation and to maintain the continuity of State services has increased markedly.

      The further amount of up to €5 billion of Union’s exceptional macro-financial assistance under this decision is to support Ukraine’s macro-financial stabilisation, strengthen the immediate resilience of the country and sustain its capacity towards recovery, thereby contributing to the public debt sustainability of Ukraine and its ability to ultimately be in a position to repay its financial obligations.

      https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/09/20/council-adopts-additional-5-billion-assistance-to-ukraine/

      =======================================

      PIC :

      https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdFwejXWYAEmzgf?format=jpg&name=medium

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      SEPTEMBER 01 2022 – White & Case advises Ukraine on consensual debt deferral

      Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine on a comprehensive liability management transaction that, among other things, defers for two years Ukraine’s contractual obligation to make payments under approximately US$25 billion of its international bonds, GDP-linked warrants and sovereign-guaranteed debt obligations.

      “Our work for Ukraine has continued uninterrupted and indeed intensified following Russia’s invasion in February 2022,” said White & Case partner Ian Clark, who led the Firm’s deal team. “We have been advising the Ministry of Finance on a wide range of emergency financing facilities provided by Ukraine’s bilateral and multilateral partners, and supporting our client on a variety of strategic legal matters.”

      The transaction, on which Rothschild acted as financial adviser to Ukraine and JP Morgan acted as consent solicitation agent, was completed by way of four separate but inter-conditional consent solicitations to holders of Ukraine’s outstanding 13 series Eurobonds amounting to around US$20 billion; two series of sovereign-guaranteed bonds issued by state-owned entities Ukravtodor and Ukrenergo amounting to around US$1.5 billion; and GDP-linked warrants amounting to around US$3.2 billion. The consent solicitations were launched in late July and the consents of the requisite super-majorities under each security’s terms and conditions (the ‘collective action clauses’) were obtained on August 10, 2022.

      White & Case partner Olga Fedosova said: “Ukraine’s latest liability management transaction will provide our client with more than US$6 billion of critical liquidity relief over the next two years. It received broad support from Ukraine’s private investor base and was endorsed by its key international partners in the G-7 including the US, UK, Canada, Japan, France and Germany.”

      White & Case has advised Ukraine since 1998, when the Firm was retained to support a series of financing and liability management transactions culminating in the country’s first comprehensive debt restructuring in 2000. Since then, White & Case has advised Ukraine and its most important state-owned entities on many dozens of international financing transactions.

      “Over the years, Ukraine’s government has turned to White & Case for support on its most strategic and sensitive financing projects, including its US$20 billion sovereign debt restructuring in 2015,” said Clark.

      The White & Case team that advised Ukraine, Ukravtodor and Ukrenergo on the liability management transaction, as well as on ongoing bilateral loan financing transactions with official sector creditors, included partners Ian Clark (London), Olga Fedosova (Paris) and James Hardy (London) and associates Jessica Oliver, Dimitrios Lyratzakis, Juanita Derex-Briggs, Marion Genova and Ally Hammond (all London).

      www(dot)whitecase.com/news/press-release/white-case-advises-ukraine-consensual-debt-deferral
      ========================================

      reuters – MARCH 5 2015 – Rothschild looks to organize Ukraine bondholders ahead of talks

      Boutique investment firm Rothschild has invited investors to organize into a Ukraine creditor group ahead of a sovereign debt restructuring, sources directly familiar with the situation told Reuters.

      Ukraine’s eastern half, where much of its industry is based, is where government forces are battling pro-Russian separatists, putting the nation at risk of bankruptcy.

      Last month, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said Ukraine would receive about $40 billion in total funding over the next four years, nearly half from the IMF. Ukraine’s finance ministry has said the package would include up to $15 billion from debt talks with creditors, which are expected to start next month.

      “We hold Ukraine, and Rothschild asked if we wanted to join them in a creditor group. We declined,” said one U.S.-based portfolio manager who requested anonymity given the fluid nature of the situation. “This is going to be a really tough negotiation. How do you do a proper debt sustainability analysis when the country is still at war?”

      The Rothschild banker who sent the invitation did not respond to a request for comment.

      Ukraine’s 2017 Eurobond, carries a 9.25 percent coupon. It last traded at 46.5 cents on the dollar, up 1.5 cents, on Thursday, yielding 51.49 percent, according to TradeWeb.

      Yield spreads versus benchmark U.S. Treasuries narrowed by 67 basis points to 3,531 basis points on the JPMorgan EMBI Global index. That is the largest yield spread on the index, followed by Venezuela at 2,689 bps. The overall index is at 395 bps.

      “There are basically 10-15 (private) investors” that need to organize, said a second source familiar with the matter who characterized Rothschild’s efforts as “exploratory.” If a group representing more than 25 percent of the debt organize, they could block a deal.

      U.S. mutual fund firm Franklin Templeton is the largest owner of Ukrainian sovereign debt, holding between 25 to 30 percent of the par value outstanding on nearly every series of government bonds, according to Thomson Reuters eMAXX database, making them the key player in any talks.

      Franklin Templeton was not immediately available to comment.

      “But Franklin isn’t talking with anyone,” said a third source who holds Ukrainian debt. “Other bondholders are talking, so the question is will they play ball or try to strong-arm the rest of us,” the investor said, requesting anonymity because of the delicate stage of the talks.

      Complicating matters is the more than 40 percent decline in the value of Ukraine’s currency, the hryvnia, which could make the restructuring more painful depending on how it is organized.

      Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance hired Lazard to advise on the debt restructuring.

      https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-debt-rothschild-idUSKBN0M12L620150305

    • Associated Press – Putin blasts U.S. attempts to preserve global domination

      MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday blasted what he described as U.S. efforts to preserve its global domination and ordered officials to boost weapons production amid the fighting in Ukraine.

      Speaking while receiving credentials from foreign ambassadors to Moscow, Putin said “the objective development toward a multipolar world faces resistance of those who try to preserve their hegemony in global affairs and control everything — Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa.”

      He added that “the hegemon has succeeded in doing so for quite a long time, but it can’t go on forever … regardless of the developments in Ukraine.”

      Putin has repeatedly cast his decision to send troops into Ukraine as a response to alleged Western encroachment on Russia’s vital security interests.

      The Russian leader described Western sanctions against Russia over its action in Ukraine as part of efforts by the U.S. and its allies to strengthen their positions, but charged that that they have backfired against their organizers and also hurt poor countries.

      “As for Russia, we won’t deviate from our sovereign course,” Putin said.

      Speaking later during a separate meeting on military industries, he said Russian weapons have shown high efficiency during the fighting in Ukraine and told officials to quickly increase output of military industries.

      “Our equipment efficiently confronts Western types of weapons,” Putin said. “Practically all of NATO weapons stockpiles have been brought to support the current regime in Kyiv.”

      Putin added that Russia should study Western weapons to improve its own arsenals.

      “We can and must learn about these arsenals, everything they have, everything they use against us to qualitatively increase our potential and improve our equipment, our weapons where we need to do it,” he noted.

      Putin said he has ordered to boost allocations for new weapons, offer more loans to military industries and approve additional payments to their workers to increase weapons output.

      “Structures of the military industrial complex must deliver the required weapons and equipment in the shortest time possible,” Putin said.

    • the Atlantic – Putin Is Cornered

      The west faces a simple choice: reduce aid to Ukraine and deliver Russia a victory, or else finish the job it has begun.

      President Volodymyr Zelensky is playing the role of a Ukrainian Churchill, minus some of the fantastical notions and with an infinitely better workout regimen. Like Churchill in 1940, he has been the indispensable man in a mortal crisis, without whom his country might well have been lost, and whose eloquence has rallied not only his fellow citizens but a larger democratic world.

      I recently met him in Kyiv, and found him as I had hoped—relaxed, optimistic but not cocky, determined, and on top of the details of the war for survival that his country is waging successfully.

      Zelensky’s key subordinates—generals and ministers alike—echoed his mood: realistic, courageous, and utterly committed to ridding their country of a brutal invader.

      They told our small group of American, British, French, and Australian experts brought together by the Polish foreign-policy think tank PISM what they needed and—guardedly—how they assessed the enemy’s military position.

      This was all reassuring and, with caveats, encouraging. But the trip also brought home the importance of that least romantic of military subjects, logistics. A visit to the transshipment points for aid to Ukraine, and discussions with Polish and Ukrainian military leaders, revealed some disquieting facts.

      In total, the amount of military aid being delivered to Ukraine is indeed impressive, and not all of it is publicly tabulated; some countries provide aid but prefer not to advertise it. But the supply system operated efficiently by Poland, the U.S., and others is underutilized, operating at just 60 percent capacity, according to the professionals with whom we spoke. More to the point, there is reason to think that it may be insufficient.

      Ukraine is waging modern, prolonged, industrial warfare of a kind not seen since World War II. Such wars are voracious consumers of all kinds of equipment and supplies. On some days the Russians have hurled 50,000 artillery shells at the Ukrainians, who have often lobbed as little as a tenth as many back. Yes, their guns now include superior Western models, but some of their suppliers produce fewer than 5,000 rounds a year. And yes, they are more accurate (some superaccurate, in fact), but as the Russian-military proverb has it, quantity has a quality all its own.

      And there are hidden difficulties as well. NATO has adopted 155-mm-caliber artillery pieces as its standard. That does not necessarily mean, however, that one country’s shell will work with another’s gun. Moreover, even when Ukrainian crews, who have put these systems into the field with astonishing speed, can operate them effectively, sooner or later every advanced piece of military equipment requires maintenance in a rear depot rather than on the battlefield. A large infrastructure immune from Russian attacks needs to be constructed for that.

      Some countries have courageously stripped their own arsenals to support Ukraine—Poland, for example, has handed over some 240 of its improved T-72 tanks (a third of its total inventory), even before American replacement tanks have begun to arrive. France has provided Ukraine with a comparable percentage of its extremely accurate CAESAR mobile artillery. But the sheer variety of aid, and the multiplicity of systems, means that the Ukrainians struggle to keep them all running and working together. They have displayed phenomenal technical ingenuity by, for example, firing American-made HARM missiles (which home in on and destroy radar systems) from their Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter planes. But in the end, now as for centuries past, nothing beats standardization.

      On top of all this, Ukraine is trying to rebuild its forces along Western-equipped lines, from scratch, and in the midst of war. As our Ukrainian interlocutors made very clear, they need a lot to win: the kinds of anti-air systems that will close the sky to Russian missiles and drones, so that Ukrainian forces can operate and their civilians can live free from fear; more long-range systems (particularly ATACMS missiles from the U.S.); infantry fighting vehicles; unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance and strike; and much else. And they need those supplies at the appropriate scale.

      That some countries supplying Ukraine trumpet their contributions is understandable. But the question must always be not how much has been given, but how much is needed. And here, despite the large quantities flowing to Ukraine, the fact remains that it is not enough, and that the logistical system can handle more.

      Some capable countries are unwilling to give at scale. Germany, which has supplied both military systems and a great deal of nonlethal aid, has declined to dip into its large inventory of mothballed tanks. Its foreign minister has insisted that in this crisis, Germany must lead; its defense minister has, in this regard, insisted that it must not.

      Most other countries, including the United States, continue to refrain from the level of industrial mobilization necessary. It is too much business as usual in the defense world, as one CEO recently told me. There are increased purchases, but nothing like the focus, resources, urgency, and willingness to sweep away bureaucratic obstacles and routine procedures that characterized America’s miracles of defense production in earlier eras.

      Some of the hesitancy, too, has stemmed from a patronizing wariness about Ukrainian capabilities. Yet if we have learned anything in this war, it is that the Ukrainians, smart and driven as they are, can absorb even the most advanced systems fast, and exploit them shrewdly. At this point, they know more about high-intensity warfare than we do.

      But most troubling of all has been dilatoriness explainable by self-deterrence. “We’re trying to avoid World War III,” The New York Times reports President Joe Biden as repeating often, in private and in public. Not surprisingly, when the other side gets wind of that, they threaten World War III. If the president’s guidance were that, at all costs, we must avoid provoking the Russians into painting their tanks neon yellow, one could be quite certain that we would see barrels of neon-yellow paint in Red Square lined up next to a hundred of Russia’s remaining tanks.

      Some of the delay is explained as well by the governmental conceit that the U.S. can “boil the frog,” supplying Ukraine new weapons in relatively modest increments without eliciting a major Russian response. Vladimir Putin is evil and has undoubtedly made large errors of judgment, but it is safe to assume that he is smarter than your average frog. He knows what is going on.

      Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl recently warned of Russia feeling “backed into a corner.” But that feeling is inevitable when you launch a war of aggression with all the advantages of superior arms and surprise and get beaten, and not just beaten but clobbered.

      Russia has shattered its army in Ukraine, its air force has shown itself to be timid and ineffective, and its navy has lost its Black Sea flagship and may even lose the ability to operate out of its traditional base of Sevastopol. Not only have Russia’s stocks of equipment been shown to be vitiated by corruption and even at their best inferior to that of their Western counterparts; its soldiers have in some cases mutinied, or fled the battlefield, or refused to go in the first place. It is reduced to recruiting convicts to fill the ranks.

      But this is only the start. Western sanctions have crippled much of Russia’s military industry and begun a slow squeeze on the rest. Russia’s oil revenues have begun to decline as Asian states demand steep discounts for its purchase. It has thrown away its natural-gas exports to Europe without securing alternative customers. It has lost some of its brightest young people to self-chosen exile.

      Meanwhile, China has not, thus far, stepped in to meet Russia’s needs, and has questioned the wisdom and even legitimacy of its junior partner’s war. Moscow may soon feel more like a vassal of Beijing than an ally. Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, a country long sympathetic to Russia, has publicly rebuked it, as has Kazakhstan, which clearly fears a Ukraine-like squeeze from Moscow—one that China has made clear it will not countenance. Russia has had to withdraw some of the forces that gave it a dominant position in Syria and Armenia. Contrary to Russian expectations, the supposedly decadent Western Europeans have braced themselves remarkably to adjust to the end of Russian energy supplies. It is unlikely now that they will fold under pressure.

      More humiliation awaits, when the soldiers of the embattled garrison of Kherson, on the west bank of the Dnieper river, who may number as many as 20,000, have to flee or else surrender to the Ukrainian forces. Ukraine has boxed them in, destroyed their bridges, and gradually chewed up their artillery support.

      The alternative to the cornering and humiliation of Russia would be for the United States and its allies to halt or reduce their aid to Ukraine and impose a stalemate. But that would mean delivering a victory to Russia, because it would still hold more Ukrainian territory than it did in 2014 and would have gone unpunished for pervasive war crimes, including mass murder. In three or four years, a rearmed Russia, thirsting for revenge for the losses and defeats it has suffered, would do the same thing again, and against a dispirited Ukraine. If that were to happen, it would be an utter disaster for American policy and Western security. Such an imposed stalemate would be profoundly immoral, but equally to the point, it would be profoundly stupid.

      So this is indeed a dangerous moment, because Putin will inevitably find himself humiliated and cornered and may very well look for a way to lash out. But as General James Wolfe said before storming the heights of Quebec in 1759, war is an option of difficulties. The error lies in thinking that one can titrate the application of violence to achieve exquisitely precise results. To the extent that the West continues to attempt to do so, it will merely ensure more mass graves like those of Bucha and Izyum, and more soldiers lying limbless or in the burn wards of Ukrainian military hospitals. So now, as ever, Churchill’s observation that courage is the virtue that makes all others possible holds, particularly for the leaders of the embattled West. Zelensky could not put it better himself.

      https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/zelensky-ukraine-west-military-aid-supplies/671485/

    • President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues.

      Yesterday we marked Gunsmith Day, and I would like to extend my wholehearted greetings to you and all personnel of the national defence industry on their professional day and to thank them for their diligent work and commitment to the responsible and very important cause to which they have devoted their lives, to serving Russia and our people.

      Thanks to the talents and energy of our designers, engineers and workers and their dedication to the tasks facing them, our defence industry is making a huge contribution to strengthening national security and to upgrading and enhancing the combat capability of the army and navy. At the same time, it has always held a solid position on the global arms markets. Over the first six months of this year, our industry has supplied products worth over $6 billion to our foreign partners despite the circumstances everyone is well aware of. High-tech civilian products, which enjoy demand in Russia and abroad, are being manufactured in increasing quantities.

      Once again, I congratulate all Russian weapons-makers on their professional day and wish you good health and new successes.

      Colleagues,

      Given the circumstances, challenges, and threats that our country is facing, the defence companies are operating intensively, and their employees are acting quickly to address unconventional challenges, to rearrange production processes and to improve quality based on actual combat experience. Your representatives go to the front lines – I want to note this and thank them for this. This transcends professional responsibility and is, to a certain extent, heroism, which is making a vast contribution to improving the military equipment that is being used in the combat operations.

      Therefore, during our meeting, I propose focusing on the specific and most pressing organisational, financial and technical issues. Of course, we will start by discussing the supplies of weapons, equipment and ammunition to the forces, primarily the units and subunits in the special military operation.

      I will note at the outset that the Russian weapons used in the operation have proven highly effective. This primarily concerns aviation, high-precision long-range missiles, aviation weapons, rocket and artillery, and armoured vehicle arsenal, to name a few. They are used to destroy military infrastructure, command posts, and enemy materiel, and to attack nationalist units, while minimising losses among personnel.

      I would also like to point out the fact that our equipment is performing well in the standoff with Western weapons. You know that virtually all stocks from NATO arsenals were thrown in to support the Kiev regime. This means that we must and can study these arsenals – that is, the equipment that is being used against us – and break new ground in building up our capabilities, and, based on our experience, improve, where necessary, our equipment and our weapons. This is a natural process which we must use by all means and do so as quickly and efficiently as possible.

      I would like to remind you in this context that this year I have resolved to deliver additional weapons and equipment to the armed forces and, consequently, to allocate funds for acquisition and maintenance. Production capacities must be increased and, if necessary, modernised at several defence enterprises. Much has been done to attain this goal.

      For example, the following decisions were taken to ensure the uninterrupted production and repair of weapons and equipment: contract and pre-contract procedures have been simplified considerably, the timeframe for signing state contracts with a sole provider and the relevant pricing procedure have been reduced, and the amount of prepayment has been increased.

      I would like to note that Promsvyazbank has reaffirmed the terms for low-interest loans for the pre-schedule delivery of weapons. In addition, labour laws have been amended to allow the heads of defence enterprises and design bureaus to authorise overtime pay for designers, engineers and workers.

      Measures have been taken in connection with manufacturing optimisation. I will not list them now because all of you are well aware of them. This has been done on your recommendation.

      Defence industry organisations must ensure the provision of the necessary weapons, equipment and munitions to the armed forces as soon as possible.

      We must also ensure the timely and full provision of modern Russian-made components, parts, units and materials to defence industry companies. The defence industry is the sphere where all import substitution programmes must be implemented without fail. This may not be so important or even necessary in other areas, because we do not need one hundred percent import substitution. But we must do it in this area. Therefore, production capacities must be increased without delay, equipment must be used to the fullest, technological cycles must be streamlined, and production deadlines must be reduced without hurting quality.

      I would like to ask the heads of defence industry enterprises to report on the measures they are taking to satisfy the Defence Ministry’s requirements. Of course, I also expect you to make practical proposals, as you did at our previous meetings on the development of the defence industry as a whole.

      Thank you. Let us start working.

      http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69381

    • zero hedge – Putin To Give Major Speech On Ukraine Referendums, Possible National War Mobilization

      Russia’s President Putin is set to give a major speech Tuesday evening (Moscow time) amid announcements by pro-Russian authorities in occupied regions of Ukraine that referendums to join the Russian Federation will be held in the coming days.

      Russian media is reporting within the last hours (machine translation): “President Vladimir Putin may speak on Tuesday, September 20, regarding referendums in the territories of the LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. RBC was told about this by three sources close to the presidential administration. The speech is expected before the end of the day, what exactly the head of state will say is unknown to RBC’s interlocutors.”

      There are reports that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will also be by Putin’s side, leading some pundits to speculate we are about to see a possible formal declaration of war and “national mobilization” of Russian society.

      […]

      https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/referendums-set-series-ukraine-regions-national-mobilization-being-pushed-through

    • bloomberg – EU Guidance Weakens Bloc’s Sanctions on Coal, Countries Warn
      Poland, Baltics want a clarification from the EU executive

      Previous guidance banned transfer of coal to third nations

      […]The new guidance from the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, says that the transfer of certain goods, including coal and related products, “should be allowed to combat food and energy insecurity around the world.” Previously, the commission said that its sanctions prohibit EU operators from transferring coal and providing services — such as financing and insurance — to all shipments of such products originating in Russia.

      “The EU is fully committed to avoiding that its sanctions unduly impact trade in critical items to third countries around the globe,” Commission Spokesman Daniel Ferrie said in a statement, adding that the clarification was relevant to agri-food items including chemicals used for fertilizers, energy commodities and specific essential goods.

      “The financing, or provision of financial assistance — such as insurance or reinsurance — by EU operators for the transport to third countries of the products mentioned in our guidance note is also allowed,” Ferrie said.

      Coal and related products were highlighted in the commission’s guidance note.

      […]Bloomberg reported last week that a Greek-managed vessel had shipped coal from Russia to Turkey after EU sanctions came into force in August.

      https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-20/eu-guidance-weakens-the-bloc-s-sanctions-on-coal-countries-warn

      =========================================
      China’s spending on Russian energy climbs to record $8.3 billion

      China’s spending on Russian energy products hit a record $8.3 billion last month, as the world’s top importer continues to expand its reliance on Moscow for overseas supplies of crude, oil products, gas and coal.

      The haul for August was 68% higher than a year ago and included a record amount of coal, according to Chinese customs figures on Tuesday. It brings the total over the six months since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to nearly $44 billion, an increase of 74%.

      SIGN UP FOR THE ENERGY DIGEST
      Although import values have been inflated by the global spike in energy prices caused by the war, China is still taking more volumes, sometimes at discounted rates, from its strategic ally. Russia for its part needs to find a home for exports that are being shunned by much of the rest of the world as punishment for the invasion.

      China’s increased spending also comes despite generally weaker energy imports this year as demand is crimped by a slowing economy and the government’s Covid Zero policy.

      Russian oil exports to China rose to 8.34 million tons last month, from 7.15 million tons in July and 6.53 million a year ago, although it was edged out as the top supplier by Saudi Arabia for the first time since April. Russia is likely to ship more crude and products to destinations including China in the coming months as Europe tightens sanctions to step up its response to the invasion.

      Imports of Russian coal hit a new high of 8.5 million tons, up 57% on the year, with coking coal for the steel industry totaling 1.9 million tons. Purchases of liquefied natural gas climbed to 671,000 tons, the highest level since 2020 and 37% more than a year ago. The volumes exclude imports via pipelines, which haven’t been reported by customs since the start of the year, but are the main channel to transport the fuel from Russia to China.

      https://www.mining.com/web/chinas-spending-on-russian-energy-climbs-to-record-8-3-billion/

      ======================================
      bloomberg – Biden to Release 10 Million Oil Barrels Ahead of EU-Russian Ban

      WTI futures briefly pared Monday’s modest gains on the news

      The Department of Energy will offer additional US reserve crude for sale ahead of plans by the European Union to ban most Russian oil in December.

      The agency will offer 10 million barrels of low-sulfur crude for supply in November from storage caverns in Texas and Louisiana, according to a press statement. Bids for the supply that will originate from Big Hill, Texas, and West Hackberry, Louisiana, are due by Sept. 27. Awards will be made no later than Oct. 7.

      West Texas Intermediate futures briefly pared Monday’s modest gains on the news.

      The government’s offer is coming at a time when global benchmark oil prices have retreated to levels seen before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began as investors heed warnings of a global recession. The declines in oil futures have sent American pump prices tumbling for weeks, a welcome development for the Biden Administration as it gears up for midterm elections in November.

      The timing is also notable as it coincides with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries discussing the possibility of curbing production. OPEC and its allies agreed to cut output next month by 100,000 barrels a day.

      The DOE’s planned 180-million barrel supply release was originally set over a six-month period that started in May. To date, the SPR sales have resulted in 155 million barrels of crude oil being delivered or committed for delivery through Oct. 22. Of the 10 million barrels slated for November delivery, 1 million are being marked for possible export.

      US refiners Valero Energy Co. and Marathon Oil Corp. have been the biggest buyers in the SPR sales so far.

      https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-19/us-offers-10-million-barrels-of-crude-oil-for-november-delivery

    • CNBC – Italian Democratic Party: ‘Political ties’ exist between Russia and right-wing Lega

      Lia Quartapelle, international spokesperson for Italy’s Democratic Party, discusses Lega’s ties with Russia ahead of the country’s snap election on Sept. 25.

    • Italy turning to the Far Right in upcoming Election

      God, Fatherland, Family’: ahead of the September 25th election, it seems that Mussolini’s values are still in vogue in Italy. They are now carried by Giorgia Meloni, whose ultra-right party is touted to win.

      In Italy, the far-right Brothers of Italy party – helmed by Giorgia Meloni – is leading opinion polls ahead of this weekend’s election.

      The party has its roots in fascism, with some commentators describing the party as ‘neo-fascist’.

      Though fascist apologism is a crime in Italy, the memory of Mussolini continues to be venerated by some.

      ‘Many people feel a kind of nostalgia for Mussolini.

      If you talk about Brothers of Italy, at least 80 per cent of supporters feel the same way’, alleges Mirko Santarelli at a rally he organised to commemorate the fascist leader.

      Nonetheless, ‘fascism’ is a label Meloni is eager to shake.

      ‘Many decades ago, the Italian right relegated fascism to history, condemning the deprivation of democracy’, says Meloni in an televised address.

      In Perugia, the region’s senate candidate is also quick to dismiss any connection with fascism. ‘There are of course people nostalgic for fascism, but this has nothing to do with Brothers of Italy’.

      Yet some commentators are still wary.

      ‘Brothers of Italy is full of fascists’, states La Repubblica journalist Paolo Berizzi.

  18. sky news australia – Irregular heartbeat likely to be one of the reasons more people than usual have been dying this year

    Excess deaths, or extra deaths, are the number of deaths that are above the long-term average for a particular week or month of the year.

    Deaths due to an irregular heartbeat are likely to be one of the reasons more people than usual have been dying this year – with the number well above average so far.

    The number of deaths registered in England and Wales due to cardiac arrhythmias was more than usual for much of the first half of 2022, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

    Deaths in this category had the second highest excess mortality figures in March and April, up from being the eighth highest in February and the fourth highest in January.

    Excess deaths, or extra deaths, are the number of deaths that are above the long-term average for a particular week or month of the year.

    There were 234 excess deaths due to an irregular heartbeat registered in March and 138 in April.

    In both months this was the second highest number of excess deaths by cause, behind only those due to “ill-defined conditions” – a definition often used to cover symptoms such as old age and frailty.

    The total number of deaths due to an irregular heartbeat was 37.1% above average in March and 23.1% in April – a sharp jump from 13.7% in January and 9.2% in February.

    The percentages remained high in May and June (39.0% and 17.9%), but the number of excess deaths for this category ranked lower, in fifth and eighth place respectively.

    Other leading causes to have contributed to excess deaths this year include ischaemic heart diseases, diabetes, and dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

    Overall 3,848 excess deaths were registered in England and Wales in the first half of 2022.

    Sarah Caul, ONS head of mortality analysis, said the figure had been “driven by higher than expected numbers of deaths since March, which could be caused by a combination of factors.

    “Across March, April and May we saw increases in deaths due to cardiac arrhythmias, predominantly among those aged 80 and above.

    “Further work needs to be done to understand any link between the long-term effects of Covid and increasing cardiac deaths.”

    It is also possible that there has been some “mortality displacement”, with the number of deaths higher than average now because of below-average deaths earlier in the year.

    “Excess deaths do fluctuate over time and when looking at individual months in 2022, the number of deaths were below expected levels in January and February,” she added.

    Total deaths registered in England and Wales were 10.3% below average in January and 7.3% below in February, but were above average in every month from March to June.

    May and June saw a particularly high level of excess mortality, with deaths 15.4% and 8.6% above average respectively.

    Covid-19 has been only partly responsible for extra deaths in recent months, the ONS said.

    Of the 6,473 excess deaths in May, more than three-quarters (4,897 or 76%) were not due to coronavirus.

    The proportion was even higher in June, with 82% not due to Covid-19 (2,900 of 3,516).

    https://news.sky.com/story/irregular-heartbeat-likely-to-be-one-of-the-reasons-more-people-than-usual-have-been-dying-this-year-12701948

  19. Perhaps this person is worth interviewing…

    https://www.reddit.com/r/JordanPeterson/comments/xizpff/trans_agenda_depopulation_tactic_my_experience/

    …

    They knew that COVID was a flu. I did a graduate level mock clinical trial on COVID in 2016 (MERS) and I knew a lot about COVID-19 when it hit. Here I was with my masters degree in epidemiology/biostatistics and I created a mock clinical trial of COVID and people were weirdly walking around with masks. It did not make any sense to me.

    …

    I still own the hard copy, so I have the old data on COVID before the current data was filled with lies.
    …

    My program had a lot of Chinese students (I often hung out with some of them for class) and I’m really hoping that I wasn’t the cause of this pandemic… It weighs heavily on my conscious these days. But I also wonder if MERS was the 2nd batch and COVID-19 was the third. That might explain why our professors were pissed off at us. Maybe we caught on (yes, my professors had active relationships with pharmaceutical companies. They would even visit and do presentations for my program) and they panicked? I don’t know. Hmm…

  24. the gateway pundit – #TrudeauMustGo Trends on Twitter with 1.81 Million Interactions Including Trudeau’s Brother as Canadians Express Disapproval Over Draconian Covid-19 Mandates

    The #TrudeauMustGo trend continues to gain popularity on Twitter as thousands of Canadians from all walks of life express their disapproval of Prime Minister Trudeau and the draconian COVID-19 mandates he has imposed.

    The new viral trend that started last week has generated over 500,000 tweets or interactions, until the social media giant decided to stop showing the figures over the weekend.

    According to third-party analytics, TweetBinder, the hashtag has now generated over 1.81 million total tweets from September 13 to September 20.

    more :

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/09/trudeaumustgo-trends-twitter-1-81-million-interactions-including-trudeaus-brother-canadians-express-disapproval-draconian-covid-19-mandates/

  32. Police: Driver admitted to intentionally killing teen at North Dakota street dance after political dispute
    Court papers say 41-year-old Shannon Brandt confessed to a 911 dispatcher and police that he killed 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson due to a political dispute.

    …

    Court papers show Brandt called 911 around 2:30 a.m. Sunday and told the 911 dispatcher that he just hit Ellingson, claiming the teen was part of a Republican extremist group and was calling people to come get Brandt after a political argument.

    https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/north-dakota/police-driver-admitted-to-intentionally-killing-teen-at-north-dakota-street-dance-after-political-dispute