Demonize..

 

Europe wants cheap and abundant energy, but politicians demonize nuclear, gas, and oil. All the interventionist proposals that are put forward by European politicians entail a higher cost for long-suffering consumers.

Natural gas flows all the time and is cheap and abundant. It cannot be substituted with renewables that are intermittent, volatile, and unpredictable. 

The example of Germany is clear. After investing massively in renewables and doubling bills for consumers, it depends more on lignite coal and Russian gas to guarantee supply. 

Germany has had to reactivate coal plants after spending more than $200 billion on subsidies and renewables!

All technologies are necessary, and renewables are key, but they are not the alternative because they need natural gas backup while the technology is developed, as it is still in its infancy.  

All the "magical" alternatives that interventionism sells mean going from depending on Russia to depending on China. Where are we going to get the silicon, aluminum, rare-earths, copper, lithium, etc. necessary for those massive magical investments announced?

Demonizing nuclear energy has left Europe in the hands of expensive and volatile alternatives. The energy transition must be considered with an understanding of the importance of security of supply and competitiveness. We need all technologies, without ideological bias. We need solar, wind, natural gas, hydro, oil, and nuclear, or we will go from crisis to crisis, and always pay more.

Wheat..

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Twitter that he plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, marking the first in-person meeting between Putin and a European Union leader since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

Ukraine’s economic output will likely contract by a staggering 45.1% this year due to Russia’s invasion, the World Bank said on Sunday in a new assessment of the war’s economic impacts.

The World Bank also forecast Russia’s 2022 GDP output to fall 11.2% due to punishing financial sanctions imposed by the United States and its Western allies on Russia’s banks, state-owned enterprises and other institutions.

The World Bank’s Eastern Europe region, comprising Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, is forecast to show a GDP contraction of 30.7% this year, due to shocks from the war and disruption of trade.

For Ukraine, the World Bank report estimates that over half of the country’s businesses are closed, while others still open are operating at well under normal capacity. The closure of Black Sea shipping from Ukraine has cut off some 90% of the country’s grain exports and half of its total exports.

With that, the desire for war/revenge continues and the demand for weapon continued. 

Just a thought.

Foe..

 

After the Cold War, the US overturned the European security agenda and rejected Russia's bid to join NATO four times. The aim was to make Russia the imaginary foe to justify US hegemony. Since 1999, the US launched five major NATO expansions, pushing its borders eastward by more than 1,000 kilometers to include a large number of Eastern European countries, splitting Europe further, posing a realistic threat at the doorstep of Russia. 

Due to the hegemonic mentality and actions by the US, the vision of indivisible common security broke into pieces, and Russia, Ukraine and Europe were left in a security dilemma and constant conflicts. 

Former US congressman Tulsi Gabbard stated in a recent interview that President Joe Biden could have ended the crisis by promising not to admit Ukraine to NATO. But he didn't, because the US is seeking an excuse to impose sanctions on Russia, and it could profit from war for the American military-industrial complex. 

Ukraine has become another victim in a series of global security crises instigated by the US, just like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Now the hegemonic power is pushing for an Asian version of NATO expansion via its Indo-Pacific Strategy, aiming to contain China. 

[GT-Opinion By Xin Ping 3/20/2022]

Culprit..

 "Let the gull'd fool the toils of war pursue, where bleed the many to enrich the few," wrote the 18th-century English poet William Shenstone. 

That is what is exactly happening during the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Whether it's the people of war-torn Ukraine, sanction-ridden Russia, or insecurity-ingrained Europe, all have suffered greatly. The US, the culprit of the Ukraine crisis, has been constantly taking advantage of others' misfortune to maintain its hegemony.

Every why has a wherefore. Edward Carr, a leading British scholar of international relations, reminded people more than 80 years ago that the US was a master in using kindness to disguise selfishness. Boasting abundant resources, strong industry and geographical advantage, 

Ukraine could have achieved development. While the country pursued a relatively balanced policy in the early years of its independence, the US supported and incited the Orange Revolution in 2004 and the Square Revolution in 2014 to push for a pro-Western agenda, splitting Ukraine politically from within and geopolitically between Russia and Europe.

 It is really thought-provoking that the "Gateway to Europe" has become one of the poorest countries in Europe, the frontline of NATO's eastward expansion, and the fault line of "color revolutions" and conflicts.   [GT-Opinion By Xin Ping 3/20/2022]

End-game..

 A Ukrainian delegation warned U.S. officials in Washington this week that security assistance packages are not arriving quick enough in the besieged country, a plea that comes amid Western security claims that the Kremlin will soon intensify its military campaign.

Over the past week, the delegation of Ukrainian civil society advocates, military veterans and former government officials met with 45 lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, officials at the departments of State and Defense and the National Security Council at the White House.

Kaleniuk added that U.S. lawmakers and Biden administration officials outlined a number of justifications for why certain weapons systems cannot be delivered, citing logistics issues, lack of inventory and bureaucratic limitations.

The Ukranians been asking for everything starting from No-fly Zone, to major involvement of the west regardless if this will start a world war3.

What is their end game at this time?  Just a thought.

R..

 

Higher inflation will force consumers to limit their spending by so much that the economy will slump into a recession by the July-September quarter, former Federal Reserve Governor Lawrence Lindsey said.

“Inflation is eating into consumer spending power, they’re going to have to cut back,” he said.

Lindsey said the Fed eventually will have to increase its benchmark interest rate higher than consumer price inflation — now running at an 8% annual rate — in order to get prices in check. At the moment, the Fed’s benchmark interest rate is in a range of 0.25% – 0.5%.

The Labor Department estimates that earnings adjusted for inflation fell by 2.6% over the 12 months ending in February 2022.

Enjoy..

 

Reason..

 

Ukraine is terminating the Russian-Ukrainian Friendship Treaty of 1997. 
The treaty prevents Ukraine and Russia from invading one another's country respectively, and declaring war. 
On 19 September 2018, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree not to extend the treaty. 

Ukraine announced its intention not to renew the treaty in September 2018. By doing so the treaty did expire on 31 March 2019. The treaty was also known as the "Big Treaty".

On 3 December 2018, Poroshenko drafted a legislation to Parliament to end the Treaty of Friendship immediately; with support coming from Western allies within the United Nations Security Council.

So who started the problem? May be both.

Who is loosing in this conflict? All countries who encouraged and supported the conflict.

 Just a thought.

Gas..

 

Under UK new strategy, the government will speed up construction of offshore wind farms by reforming planning laws, hope to generate enough electricity to power every home in the country by 2030.

The government wants to see as many as eight nuclear reactors built over the next decade. It hopes nuclear energy can supply a quarter of UK electricity by 2050.

But fossil fuels are getting a new lease of life. Government plans include a licensing round later this year for more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.

Consultancy Wood Mackenzie estimates that the United Kingdom could produce the equivalent of another 5 billion barrels of oil if it takes advantage of all its resources.

Yet North Sea research director at Wood Mackenzie, said that the country will remain "heavily reliant on [gas] imports in all scenarios" in the years to come.

last year, all the politicians were singing the Climate Change/Fossil Fuel problems. A year later they all looking to produce more before they get bankrupt.  

Just a thought.

Warning..

 

Democrat Kathy Hochul holds a slim 4-percentage-point lead over presumptive Republican Party nominee Lee Zeldin in the race for governor, a new survey reveals.

The same poll shows Zeldin leading disgraced ex-Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo by six percentage

Points in a hypothetical match-up.

The survey of 830 likely voters — conducted by research company co/efficient for the Republican consulting firm Big Dog Strategies — has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

There are warning signs for Hochul, according to the poll. Forty-one percent of voters view her unfavorably and 31% favorably — with more than a quarter undecided.