Politics

RobertDyck · 2022-03-24 09:34:33

Canadian politics:

TheCounterSignal: Trudeau gets called a Dictator in front of the entire EU

Addressing both the European Parliament and Trudeau specifically, Member of the European Parliament Mislav Kolakusic proceeded to deliver Trudeau perhaps the most humiliating international thrashing of his political career.
“Freedom, the right to choose, the right to life, the right to health, the right to work for many of us are fundamental human rights for which millions of citizens of Europe and the world have laid down their lives,” Kolakusic began.
“…. Canada, once a symbol of the modern world, has become a symbol of civil rights violations under your quasi-liberal boot in recent months. We watched how you trample women with horses, how you block the bank accounts of single parents so that they can’t even pay their children’s education and medicine, that they can’t pay utilities, mortgages for their homes.”
“To you,” he continues, speaking to Trudeau, “these may be liberal methods; for many citizens of the world, it is a dictatorship of the worst kind. Rest assured that the citizens of the world, united, can stop any regime that wants to destroy the freedom of citizens, either by bombs or harmful pharmaceutical products.”
Kolakusic, having once lived under a Communist regime in Croatia, is more than likely only too familiar with authoritarian regimes, their consequences, and the grievances of everyday citizens. And like many who have survived Communist dictatorships, it is apparent that he shares the disdain over Trudeau’s use of Emergency Powers to target peaceful protesters who only wanted their rights back.
And indeed, Kolakusic isn’t the only MEP to suggest Trudeau is acting like a dictator.
“[Trudeau’s] exactly like a tyrant, like a dictator. He’s like Ceaușescu in Romania,” said Romanian MEP Cristian Terhes last month.

YouTube, from Sky News Australia: 'Dictator' Justin Trudeau blasted by European Parliament member - text over images, Feb 20, 1:38

YouTube, also Sky News Australia: Trudeau government has shown ‘absolutely totalitarian behaviour’: Douglas Murray - talking heads, Feb 21, 6:56

clark · 2022-03-25 00:13:08

I live in CA. I welcome the flight out from this state, but unfortunately, population continues to increase. CA is what, 5th largest economy on its own? Agricultural breadbasket for America? Technological base for most of now? One of the few states with a space industry?

My states economy didn't happen by accident. You can all make fun of the liberal bent out this way, but you should have a little respect.

read his posts and recognize that he approves of children being killed.

Edit: Personal insults against another forum member removed. - kbd512

Last edited by kbd512 (2022-03-25 07:35:19)

kbd512 · 2022-03-25 09:26:47

California produces 13.52% of the food supply as of 2019 (in terms of revenue generated, not calories), and accounts for 11.91% of US population. For comparison purposes, Iowa produces 7.43% of the food supply as of 2019, and accounts for 0.97% of US population. Various other states in the Midwest have similar population-to-agricultural-output ratios. California and Texas are actually outliers- they are very populous and contribute significantly to the total agricultural output, but not in ways that ultimately keep everyone fed. California grows a lot of high-value crops like fruits and nuts, along with soybeans and cattle, but they are very far from being "the breadbasket of America". Calories ultimately prevent people from starving to death, and that mostly comes from corn, wheat, rice, and other grains. Most of the dietary staple crops are not provided by California. I believe it could be, but that's not what they grow there.

Except for 8 countries, in terms of calorie consumption per capita, all are above 2,000 calories per person per day. There may be some countries in Africa that we don't have good data for, but it would appear that humanity's agricultural programs are a smashing success. When we can feed every last person on the planet a 2,000 calories per day diet, possibly 2,500 calories per day if the nations with richer agricultural outputs were willing to share, I think it's safe to say that even the higher calorie count demanded by an active lifestyle is well within our capabilities.

In terms of "calorie excess", America is either #1 or #2, but there's not much difference between the US (3,800) and Kazakhstan or Turkey (3,500) or Mexico (3,200) or China (2,990), for example, and less than that for America and all European countries. There are only 8 countries out of 172 total countries, none of them exceptionally populous, with diets of less than 2,000 calories per day. Only Eritrea and Burundi aren't within spitting distance of 2,000 calories per day. The people living in Eritrea, the country with the lowest calorie consumption per capita, look almost identical to the people living in America during the 1940s and 1950s. Very few people are overweight, but none of the people living in any major city appear to be under-fed, and nearly all of them are walking around wearing blue jeans and other designer clothing.

Our long term agricultural goal should be to assure a 2,500 calorie diet for every last man, woman, and child on the planet (a comfortable buffer against significant crop failures), clean drinking water (to American or European standards), modern health care, and high school level education. Anything beyond that is an added layer of icing on the cake. However, I take what we've already achieved as a sign that we're winning. We went from large numbers of people starving to death, no matter where they lived, to people in the most impoverished countries living to 85 years of age in less than a century.

Calliban · 2022-03-29 23:57:44

German states outlaw the letter Z. Anyone displaying it can be subject to fines or three years in jail. WZF!?
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ … riminalize

kbd512 · 2022-03-30 01:27:04

So... No more "zukunft" (future) then?

All this time I thought we had the best drugs in the world over here. Apparently not. I'd like some of whatever you Europeans are smoking, cause it has to be good stuff.

First, they came for your guns.

Next, they took your knives. I guess civilized people cut their steaks with forks now?

Now, you don't even get letters they don't approve of.

Can you even imagine the havoc this will cause for the "grammar nais"?

SpaceNut · 2022-03-30 18:16:36

The two lairs deserve each other....The fact that even the words coming out of Putin's mouth and the attempts to ask for more details from Russia on Biden's son by Trump. Last I recall Giuliani’s brought back the laptop and Rep. Matt Gaetz has another hard drive means its all fabricated.
Putin lied to his own solders as to the mission and more....
Smile for the camera...you scratch my back

Trump Arrives for North Carolina Rally Amid 'Treason' Accusations including his son Donald Trump Jr.—face accusations of "treason" and planning a "coup."

Jr cellphone text to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows just two days after the November 3, 2020 presidential election, outlining strategies to subvert President Joe Biden's win. "It's very simple," Trump Jr. reportedly wrote to Meadows. "We have multiple paths We control them all." The former president's son went on to lay out proposals to legally challenge election results in specific swing states and attempt to prevent their certification. The plan also advocated putting forward slates of pro-Trump electors in various states, regardless of how the actual vote turned out.
"We have operational control Total leverage," the message said. "Moral High Ground POTUS must start 2nd term now."
After the news of the text messages broke, a number of legal experts, former law enforcement officials and lawmakers weighed-in.
Glenn Kirschner, a former U.S. Army prosecutor, who works as an NBC News/MSNBC legal analyst, wrote on Twitter that the messages were clear proof that Trump Jr. was part of his "father's criminal conspiracy to overturn the election." Kirschner asked: "How long do we have to endure this open, treasonous criminality by Trump and company before someone gets indicted?"

Calliban · 2022-03-30 21:21:15

One does have to wonder if the Ukraine invasion would have occurred if Trump were still president. Putin appears to have bided his time. He waited until after global oil production had peaked, with spare capacity reduced to almost zero. And a weak, senile and ineffective president in the White House. And the invasion took place after Germany had closed its nuclear plants, the UK had closed its coal plants and French spare capacity had eroded. Russian oil production will probably pass its peak in another few years. So Putin must have realised that circumstances had aligned to provide a window of opportunity in the Ukraine. The man clearly understands that the world is in no position to replace Russian commodities. In another ten years, declining oil production and demographic decline would have closed the window for Russia. So Putin took the opportunity, knowing that his time was now.

I don't think he was prepared for Western idiocy in attempting to freeze Russia out of the dollar payment system. This is something that will do the US more long term damage than it will Russia. Both Russia and China will now pursue a commodity backed global currency designed to replace the dollar as global reserve currency. When that happens, it will be impossible for the US to maintain budget deficits. This will place a lot of downward pressure on US prosperity and military spending. Again, I think Trump would have handled the situation better. He had a better understanding of real politik and the weeks leading up to the Ukraine invasion would have seen negotiations that may have avoided it. We will never know. But there is every possibility that Trump will be returning to the White House in 2024. Biden has achieved something that two years ago no one thought possible. He has made Donald Trump look good.

Last edited by Calliban (2022-03-30 21:31:12)

kbd512 · 2022-03-30 21:22:08

SpaceNut,

President Trump was so friendly with President Putin, that Putin never attacked Ukraine while President Trump was in office, yet had no qualms about attacking Ukraine while both President Obama and now President Biden are in office. Prior to that, Putin attacked Chechnya while President Clinton was in office. President Putin loves Republican Presidents so much that he refuses to attack European countries while Republicans are in office, but somehow never misses the opportunity to start wars while our Democrats are in office. I guess that's just the strangest coincidence in the world. Putin just feels empowered to attack other countries whenever Democrats are in charge, for no apparent reason.

I guess shaking hands with adversaries is worse than allowing them to massacre people that your nation swore to protect. Yes, President Trump probably did ask to find out what criminal enterprise the Bidens were running since POTUS is supposed to be the Chief Law Enforcement Officer, and because then Vice President Biden openly admitted to breaking the law on tape while his son, Hunter Biden, recorded all of the criminal activities they were engaged in, such as taking bribes from the wife of the Mayor of Moscow. After the 2020 election, even the New York Times admitted that everything that was claimed about the illegal activities of Joe and Hunter Biden was all backed by a mountain of evidence that Hunter Biden kept on his laptop. Sometimes I wonder if being a Democrat requires a lifelong commitment to protecting the dirt bags they elect while pointing fingers at anyone else who dares to call them out over their lemmingship's criminal behavior.

What a night and day difference between the good and competent leadership of President Trump versus the nonexistent or incompetent buffoonery of President Biden. Oh, the horror of the odd 3AM "mean tweet" versus nightly pictures of dead Ukrainian women and children. Yeah, having a President hurt someone's precious feelings is sooo much worse than the butchered bodies of all the men, women, and children Democrats condemn to die through their smug indifference to the suffering they cause. At the same age, President Trump can actually function well enough at 3AM to both read and write something, unlike President Biden, who has to be doped up on speed to remain awake for dinner.

Now your gas prices are off the charts, there are soon to be global food shortages from the havoc and destruction Russia caused, the better part of Ukraine is now a smoking rubble pile, every European nation is spending more money on energy and defense instead of social programs because there will be no peace through appeasement of Putin and Democrats either fell asleep or were stoned out of their minds during history class while the rest of us learned that dictators can't be appeased, and Russia is threatening a nuclear war because apart from the nuclear weapons they inherited from the Soviet era, their military is a complete joke. They have warm bodies armed with military hardware, but that's about as much credit as Russia is due.

Now that every nation knows what America's promises of protection are worth, they will do their utmost to acquire nuclear weapons to protect themselves from more powerful neighboring countries before they get invaded and destroyed. So, good job on encouraging nuclear weapons proliferation and sending pallets of cash to nations like Iran who clearly never had any intention of stopping their nuclear weapons program.

President Trump is not even in office right now, yet Democrats are still trying to associate the man with a nuclear-armed dictator that he tried to make peace with so that potentially millions of lives would not be wasted over yet another otherwise worthless patch of dirt and the idiotic pissing contest between Democrats and Russia. I wonder if Ted Lieu would be even more "damn proud of our current President" after Putin decides to launch nukes at Lieu's home town. Then he can be nauseated by radiation poisoning if he survives the initial blast, instead of his virtue-less signaling about the previous President who spent four thankless years preventing him and his family from becoming the unlucky "winners" of front row seats to a 1 megaton thermonuclear weapon demonstration, courtesy of Russia or North Korea or Iran. The nutters running the show in Russia are desperate and stupid enough to do something like that, so as much as Ted Lieu thinks of America's most popular but unpopular dementia patient, maybe he should keep his opinions to himself, much like our own ignorant mouth-off of the month, Lindsey Graham. Yeah Ted and Lindsey, keep running your mouths to a drugged-up dictator who is probably dying, hiding like a terrified little school girl in his bunker, with the launch codes for thousands of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles. I'm sure nothing could go wrong there.

All the finger-pointing should be directed right at President Biden- the Derpistani Chieftain who left tens of billions of dollars of weaponry to the Taliban, cut off our own energy production through executive orders while importing more and more Russian oil that the Russians then used to help finance a war against the country that was supposed to be our ally, promised a bunch of weapons and then failed to deliver any in a timely manner, invited millions of illegals to bum rush our borders during a global pandemic, lost more people from the pandemic with the vaccines than without them, has hired a bunch of dithering idiots who spend more time walking back whatever the President said than doing their jobs, and now the people who voted for all that lunacy, whoever they are since President Biden's approval rating is about the lowest in history, can't seem to figure out why they keep getting demolished when the voters go to the polls.

It's not about all the superficial nonsense your fellow tribesmen try to use to obfuscate the major problems our country is facing. It is and always has been about whether or not the policies of any particular political clown show is vaguely beneficial or wantonly destructive to America. The past two Democrat Presidents have been walking talking disaster areas that do more to aid our enemies than they do to help the people they're sworn to defend. Their idiot ideas don't come within a country mile of any part of what The Founders intended and they have far more in common with the other dictators that they trade barbs with, yet desperately want to be like, than any of the good governance principles that The Founders enshrined in our Constitution.

There was a time when that was not the case, but since President Kennedy was murdered they've gone so far off the rails that I don't know what country they're supposed to belong to. It sure as hell isn't America.

There's no American principle that states you impoverish your own countrymen while promising to help them.

There's no American principle that states you leave an entire arsenal of your nation's weapons to your mortal enemies. If the Taliban and ISIS are not our enemies, then no obscenely violent group of street thugs qualifies.

There's no American principle that states you allow hordes of foreigners to invade while they're being funneled into the loving arms of the South American drug cartels' human traffickers.

There's no American principle that states you destroy your nation's ability to make and use energy.

There's no American principle that states you promise weapons to your allies in an emergency and then fail to deliver them in a timely manner.

There's no American principle that states a tribal identity is more important than the continued existence of the country.

Tell that Derp you voted for to give the Ukrainians every last round of ammunition he promised to them, this very instant if not sooner, so that the Ukrainians can continue to do the job we were supposed to do on their behalf.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-04-10 04:48:48

British military veterans hunt sex traffic gangs in Poland who are targeting Ukrainian refugees and can get £145k for a Ukrainian girl in her 20s
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl … ugees.html
Margaerita Plotnick was with her mother and teenage cousin when she was approached at a refugee reception centre by the stranger who offered to take her to the US.It was only when the suspicious 25-year-old waitress secretly checked US entry requirements for Ukrainian refugees that she discovered the stranger was lying.

Ukraine refugees seek asylum at US-Mexico border in California
https://news.yahoo.com/ukrainians-seek- … 14774.html
The majority of Ukrainians are flying to Mexico and making their way to Tijuana's San Ysidro port of entry to seek asylum

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-04-12 05:50:00

Sri Lanka temporarily suspends servicing USD 51 billion foreign debt payments
https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/272 … t-payments

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka defaults on all foreign debt
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/2 … reign-debt

Anonymous vows to continue cyber war against Russia until Putin's aggression stops
https://fortune.com/2022/04/11/anonymou … a-ukraine/

Japan OKs asset freezes on Putin's daughters, 396 other Russians
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022 … hters.html

After Talks With Putin, Austria Warns Russia Is Planning 'Massive Offensive'
https://www.voanews.com/a/after-talks-w … 25667.html

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-04-12 06:10:34)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-04-12 11:53:39

Biden on Whether Russia is Committing ‘Genocide’ in Ukraine: ‘It Sure Seems That Way to Me’
https://cnsnews.com/index.php/article/i … ne-it-sure

Update on the terror attack

New York subway shooting: Masked gunman 'still on the loose' after at least 10 people are shot
https://news.sky.com/story/new-york-sub … t-12588630

NYPD Update: Suspect at large following shooting on New York subway train
https://abc7news.com/new-york-subway-sh … /11741173/

New York City subway shooting: Suspect put on gas mask, began shooting after subway was filled with smoke, police said
https://www.masslive.com/news/2022/04/n … -said.html

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-04-13 03:21:00)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-04-13 03:35:49

'In October 2021, James wrote on Facebook, “I FEEL LIKE SOMETHING IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN.” The Facebook page, which is in another name, but contains photos and YouTube video frames linked to him by NYPD, also contains this photo:'
On YouTube, James shared a video in the name “prophet oftruth88” about a slashing and recent violent crimes in the New York subway. The Pix11 news story featured at the beginning of the YouTube video discussed New York Mayor Eric Adams being questioned about rising crime in the subways and homeless people.
“Here we go again,” James said.
The video then segues into an extended rant featuring photos of people on a screen behind James. He said the people pictured (they aren’t named) were supposed to be helping him but made him “more dangerous.” He criticized Adams, saying “these are the people” he wants to send out to help the homeless. He said most mentally ill homeless people are Black. He ranted about a place called “Bridgeway” and homosexuals.
He said he had left the state of Wisconsin to embark on the trip. And he said, “good riddance.” He added, “a ghetto is a f****** ghetto.”
“Only in Milwaukee,” he said in a video that showed a vehicle that crashed into a light pole during the afternoon. “You gotta watch yo back in this town…” When you come to Milwaukee, he said, “you better have eyes behind your head.”
He wrote, “black people were once the human form of an ENERGY SLAVE in this country we did the (actual work) that white people should have did, today we have machines who’s energy is provided by COAL, OIL, NATURAL GAS AND NUCLEAR.”
In another YouTube video, James shared television news reports of a previous mass shooting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at Molson Coors. In that video, James talked about the Molson Coors shooter, Anthony Ferrill, who was Black, saying that gunman was “discriminated against” and “no one say and do sh*t” until he started shooting people. “And I’ve dealt with it time and time again.” He said he was a machinist, calling it the most “racist” trade in the country. He said there were a “bunch of racist white mother f******” in that trade.
In April, he shared a YouTube video headlined “12-year-old boy eating in car shot and killed in NYC.” He shared a video of the Will Smith-Chris Rock slap, captioning it, “EXTREME PROFANITY.”
In 2014, he wrote, Just cuckoo…no cocoa puffs.” He shared posts about gas prices and the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. One of his posts was anti-gay. He wrote, “love thy neighbor. He’s gay, nevermind.”
James is being sought by police. He hasn’t been named as the gunman, but authorities believe he rented a U-Haul van they recovered in Brooklyn shortly thereafter. That van’s key was found at the shooting scene, they said in a news conference.

https://heavy.com/news/frank-r-james-so … wisconsin/
Frank R. James was identified by New York police as the person of interest in the mass shooting inside a Brooklyn subway train during which a green construction-vest clad gunman carrying a .9mm caliber handgun shot 10 people during rush hour. It was a chaotic scene that left bloodied victims lying on the subway platform, but, miraculously, all are expected to live.
Frank James has ties to Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, police confirmed. According to police, 13 other people suffered a variety of non gunfire-related injuries. James’ social media accounts indicate he lived in Milwaukee.
https://heavy.com/news/frank-r-james/
Witnesses and police described a terrifying scene in which the gunman began randomly shooting at people in a busy subway train car, after detonating smoke grenades that soon filled the air.
“When [the train] was about to hit 36th Street, we stopped for 5 minutes. He takes out a gas mask from one of his little luggage[ s ],” a witness told The Post.
“He opened one of his gas tanks, and he said, ‘Oops, my bad.’ He pulls out an ax, he drops it, he takes a gun out, he starts shooting.”
“He started firing randomly into the crowd,” witness Catherine Garcia, 34, told The Daily News. “He probably couldn’t see, because it was black smoke. We just prayed and hoped that he would not just execute us one by one.”
Mayor Eric Adams told CNN:
I think it’s still a preliminary investigation. This is terror. Someone attempted to terrorize our system. They brought in what appears to be some form of smoke device. They discharged a weapon, and so I don’t want to be premature in identifying that this was or was not. I think at this time, the investigators are going to do their due diligence to properly identify what happened here. And so I think at this time it’s premature to state exactly what happened here. Still new. We’re still unfolding the investigation, but we will come to the source of what happened and we will apprehend the person that’s responsible.

New York subway shooting: Police release details of man wanted after attack
https://news.sky.com/story/new-york-sub … sf-twitter
Investigators are searching for 62-year-old Frank James

New York Subway Shooting Person Of Interest Posted YouTube Videos Of Violent Incidents
https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/new-york- … s-20220413
Frank R James is a 'person of interest' over a U-Haul van which may be connected to the New York subway shooting

Ukraine invasion: US President Joe Biden accuses ‘dictator’ Putin of genocide
https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/worl … f_genocide

Biden: Russia war amounts to 'genocide' and Putin trying to 'wipe out' Ukraine
https://metro.co.uk/video/biden-russia- … e-2661765/

kbd512 · 2022-04-13 09:15:53

I'm actually pleased that President Biden recognizes that what the Russians are trying to do to the Ukrainians is genocide, but now his administration's actions need to follow-through with helping Ukraine defend itself from Russia. Ukraine desperately needs fighter jets to strike Russian ground maneuver forces, and to provide badly needed close air support to Ukrainian ground maneuver forces. For whatever reason, the Biden Administration won't allow that to happen.

The Ukrainians have done amazing things with the weapons provided to them, but more is required to actually mount an offensive to push the Russians out of Ukraine. All of our former military officers, left wing or right wing, have all stated the exact same thing on every media outlet they've been invited to speak on. They're not all wrong. That is how you do it, and it's been done that way since WWII because everyone knows that it works. All offensives start with air power paving the way for ground maneuver forces to take and hold ground. The Ukrainians are only trying to take back the land that Russia seized from them during the Russian Army's murder spree across Ukraine. Ukraine is completely justified in reestablishing their sovereignty as a nation-state. They should not be beholden to the capricious and evil acts of a Russian dictator hellbent on murdering all of them.

Worrying about whether or not Putin will launch or not launch nuclear weapons is a waste of time and energy. Putin can press the button any time he chooses, and for no reason whatsoever. While he's prosecuting a genocide in Ukraine is exactly the right time to wipe out his conventional military forces so that all he has left are nuclear weapons. If the rest of his military is any indicator, then at least half of those nuclear weapons may not function at all. If Putin launches whatever working nuclear weapons he does have, then he knows that Russia will cease to exist under his watch. All of our deployed nuclear weapons are fully functional.

Anyway, all talk is quite cheap. As always, action is very expensive. You can pay a little bit now or pay a lot more later, but either way you end up paying.

Calliban · 2022-04-13 09:34:01

Kbd512, what the world desperately needs right now is to reach some sort of negotiated peace in Ukraine. The longer this goes on, the more people die. And of course, the problems are not limited to Ukraine. Russia is one of the world's largest oil producers. It is also the largest natural gas exporter, the largest exporter of wheat and of fertiliser. There are parts of the world that are in danger of falling into mass starvation if Russian and Ukrainian food is cut off from them. Without Russian fertiliser, crop yields in many parts of the world will fall by half. Without Russian natural gas, Europe will freeze in the dark come winter 2022. Instead of escalating the crisis, we need to reach an agreement with Russia that satisfies both parties.

kbd512 · 2022-04-13 10:43:18

Calliban,

This will end when the Russian military leaves Ukraine. We don't negotiate with people who commit genocide. Your ancestors learned that lesson the hard way when they were trying to appease Adolf Hitler. Dictators will never be appeased. It's a waste of time to try.

Crop yields will recover using American-made fertilizer, or fertilizer made by other countries. We have no shortage of natural gas to turn into Ammonia and other fertilizer products, and we already have the refinery technology to produce these products. Our domestic production already exceeds consumption. We import fertilizers because the price is right. A major reason why Russian oil and gas was used for that purpose, is that fertilizer is one of the few economically-viable products that can be synthesized from their reserves, given the substantial expenses associated with drilling there. We can't do anything about the damage that the Russians have already done, as a result of the Biden Administration's weakness in opposing Russian conquest in Ukraine. If President Trump was still in office, then we would have had American troops in Ukraine and we would not have to deal with their foolishness because they would've mopped up the Russian Army inside of two weeks. Europeans were ill-advised to rely upon Russian oil and gas, and numerous American Presidents have repeatedly told them so. Fair warning was given and ignored. If your leaders won't listen to good reason from people across the political spectrum, all telling them the same thing, then you will suffer direct consequences. Sadly, now there are consequences.

War in Ukraine and its Effect on Fertilizer Exports to Brazil and the U.S.

From the article:

The Russian invasion of Ukraine substantially elevates the risk of disruptions in the global fertilizer trade. Russia is the world’s largest exporter of fertilizers, accounting for 23% of ammonia exports, 14% of urea exports, 10% of processed phosphate exports, and 21% of potash exports, according to data from The Fertilizer Institute. The primary destinations of fertilizers from Russia are Brazil (21%), China (10%), the US (9%), and India (4%).

OEC - Fertilizers in Russia

Take a look at those graphs about half-way down the page of the link shown above. There is no way for crop yields to fall by half, unless a country gets at least half of their fertilizer from Russia. Since Brazil, China, America, and India are the largest importers of Russian fertilizer products, how exactly would crop yields be cut in half?

We already produce more total fertilizer products than we consume, but we trade with other countries when we can get good deals, even Russia. If Russia invades or we can't get good deals, then we make our own products. The Russians funded the environmentalists campaigns against fracking in Europe. Weak-minded or ill-informed or ideologically mentally disabled Europeans largely stopped fracking in Europe, so now Europeans don't have their own source of oil and gas. They still consume it, but refuse to produce it themselves. Why is that? What are we supposed to do about that now? I feel bad for the Europeans, but they made their bed and now they have to lay in it. We could help import more oil and gas into Europe to soften the blow, but only if the Biden Administration stops being so stupid about energy production.

Russia has no claim over Ukraine. Ukraine did nothing to deserve torture, mass murders, and rapes of civilian men, women, and children. In point of fact, Ukraine made every effort to pursue a good faith diplomatic solution while Russia did the exact opposite. Now there is no good faith between Russia and Ukraine. The Russian military will be annihilated if they persist in their assault against Ukraine.

All the western companies with the advanced oil drilling technology required to extract oil and gas from Russian reserves have no shut down all operations in Russia. The flow of Russian oil and gas is now uncertain at best, and likely to fall off a cliff in the next two years or less. At most, Russia represents 10% of the total global oil and gas supply. That's a hard hit to take, but it's not catastrophic. Russian fertilizer products also represents a small fraction of the total global supply of fertilizer products.

Terraformer · 2022-04-13 11:58:53

We don't negotiate with people who commit genocide.

Yes, we do. Saudi oil is still flowing. The Kim dynasty still sits on the throne in Best Korea. As long as the minerals keep coming, we turn a blind eye to the various warlords of Africa. Heck, China is still allowed to trade with the world. People far worse than Putin get to not only keep their positions, but get actively supported by the West.

And Calliban isn't wrong about the coming famine (at least, as long as America keeps turning most of its food into fuel and cattle feed -- there's enough corn to easily cover any shortfall if they pivot now). How fast does it take to get the Phosphate and Potassium mines up? Are there suitable untapped deposits? Re. ammonia, which countries are taking measures to ration natural gas so that fertiliser production can continue or even be ramped up?

The trouble with you, kbd, is that you're from America. A country that hasn't fought a war on its own soil against anyone but itself for over two centuries, and which is blessed with a massive abundance of natural resources relative to its population. Most of the world is not North America.

Calliban · 2022-04-13 12:09:03

Kbd512,

I don't think natural gas is anywhere near as abundant as you think. The world consumed 3929 cubic kilometres of it in 2019. On paper, World natural gas reserves are 200,000 cubic kilometres. On the face it, that is 50 years of supply. But much of that is unconventional and much of it is a long way from consuming markets. The US consumes 847 cubic km each year, from a reserve base of 9000 cubic km. Much of the US natural gas production is associated with shale basins, which wouldn't be profitable in a normal interest rate environment. The natural gas is a byproduct of tight oil production. But all basins except the Permian are now in decline.

Most of the world is not North America. But even North America isn't quite the land of plenty that it used to be. Developing alternative natural gas supplies for Europe will take a lot of years and several hundred billion dollars. Much of it will have to be LNG, which will be a lot more costly than what it is replacing. And that LNG must be transported half way around the world. Those Europeans had better invest in a blue water navy to protect those supply routes, because the Americans have made it clear that they no longer intend to. Kaching! Kaching!

Building alternative suppliers for ammonia based fertiliser will take a lot of years and a lot of dollars. The world will be facing its worst famine in decades as soon as the end of this year. Russia is not pre-WW2 Germany. It has an oversized position in the world's commodity markets. And Putin is no Hitler. A lot of people who have never heard of Ukraine are going to suffer because of the sanctions placed on Russian exports, for which there is no imminent alternative. A negotiated peace could save millions of them. How many lives do we sacrifice in Africa and the Middle East, just to punish Putin?

Last edited by Calliban (2022-04-13 12:19:08)

kbd512 · 2022-04-13 23:16:02

Terraformer,

Saudi Arabia is not mass murdering the Yemenis. There is a Civil War in Yemen that has killed many tens of thousands of Yemenis. The Saudis are shooting at Yemenis who are actively shooting back at them and periodically invading Saudi Arabia in conjunction with Yemen's Civil War, which is fueled by Iran, as well as routinely sending in terrorists to blow the place up. Some of Yemen's terrorists use their own people as human shields because that's the kind of scumbags that they are, but that doesn't mean Saudi Arabia will stop killing them.

The North Koreans aren't invading Russia or China to mass murder their civilians. Kim has killed quite a few of his own people through simple starvation. Communists suck at pretty much everything except killing their own people, but the only way we know how to "win hearts and minds" with communists is by killing them and we actually try to avoid doing that until they start attacking others. Sadly, the people there clearly don't want to be rid of Kim. So long as his military doesn't set foot outside of North Korea, it's not our job to tell them who their leader should be. If they like their murderous sociopathic dictator, then they can keep their murderous sociopathic dictator. Did anyone else notice how quiet Kim was after Trump told him that his nuclear button actually works? That pair of aircraft carrier battle groups that President Trump had sitting off his coast was fair warning about what would happen next.

I totally agree with Calliban about not turning food into fuel and rationing gas, but we have a moron in the White House who does the exact opposite of whatever would be good for America and the world. Some people on his team are trying to keep him from going completely off the rails, and a heart-felt "thank you" to those people, but several of his blunders aren't as easy to fix. Border control, Afghanistan, and Ukraine immediately come to mind. People who love incompetence voted him into office, so now we have to live with him. That's how we do things over here. Anyway... The Phosphate and Potassium plants are already up and running. We already produce more of that stuff than we consume in total, or did you miss that part?

You act like Americans don't show up to fight, but we've been continuously fighting somewhere in the world since before I was born. We stayed out of Ukraine because Putin promised to nuke our NATO allies if we didn't. If you want to roll the dice, then I'm sure our Afghanistan and Iraq veterans can mop up whatever Ukraine left of the Russian Army in a couple of weeks at most. If we see a second Sun over Houston, then we'll know that Putin sends his regards. If not, then we called his bluff correctly. Either way, I'm game if you are.

Ukraine itself had plenty of oil and gas to share with the other European countries before the Russians were allowed to blow the place up. We can't undo that in a day, but if we stop whining about it and get to work, then we can rebuild Europe's domestic energy supplies without Russia's help. Russia can cut off the oil and gas at any time they please, and for any reason that suits them. We have no control over that. We do have control over what we decide to do about it, so let's start there.

The trouble with you, Terraformer, is that you're from Europe. Europe has plenty of resources, but little will to use them. It's more important for you to tell me off since I'm an American pointing out where your leadership went wrong, than it is for you to have a heart-to-heart with your own leaders about what they're doing to assure your own security and economic prosperity. I can't change geography, nor do I need any geography lessons from you, but not using what you have to work with is poor planning. That's not a problem America can resolve for you. We show up after things go wrong, not before. America fixes otherwise unfixable problems, but these days a lot of people don't like the way we do it, so they complain instead of coming up with their own workable solutions.

We fixed the Hitler and Hirohito problems by bombing them back to before the Stone Age, but some people took issue with that, so we helped them rebuild afterwards. Russia and Germany, China and Japan, still don't like each other to this day. I understand why, but it's been the better part of a century since WWII. Is it ever time to let it go?

We fixed the communism expansion problems by fighting them to a stalemate, but then other communists came along and caused problems for those communists, so now we have to station US Navy warships in places like South Korea and Viet Nam to keep Chinese communists from killing Vietnamese communists. Bizarre? Yeah, we thought so, too.

We fixed the Soviet Union problem by forcing them to spend themselves into oblivion, but then one of their dictators came along afterwards and wanted to rebuild the Soviet Union. We saw that coming, but somehow nobody else did. It was so obvious to us, but they didn't want to see it, and so they ignored it. Unfortunately for us, the problem didn't go away.

We fixed the China problem by giving them western manufacturing capabilities and machinery so they wouldn't all starve to death under communism, but then they built up their military and started threatening their neighbors. The only people who saw that coming were the people who dealt with communists before. Now their economy is going to collapse despite our extraordinary efforts and there's nothing we can do about it. They blew staggering amounts of money on real estate that nobody can even use, and made our real estate bubble look like chump change. Why you would ever build an entire city that nobody could actually live in, is a question that only the Chinese can answer. They could've easily brought their own living standards up to the most modern western cities for most people in China, but didn't. We're equally screwed because our economy is tied to their economy.

We fixed the terrorism exportation problem by occupying their stomping grounds and whacking them whenever they popped up, but everyone complained about how much it cost and that our methods were less than perfect, so now we get to deal with them at home. Worse still, our village idiot armed them billions of dollars of our weaponry on our way out the door and left behind thousands of our people.

If you noticed the pattern there, fixing one problem merely created new ones. There will always be problems to deal with. If you're prepared to deal with them, then as inconvenient as they always are, they're not insurmountable. Unfortunately, convincing some of our allies that they need to prepare for the problems that other countries will cause for them is like pulling teeth. They know they're going to face an even more severe problem, but they want to stick their heads in the sand and pretend it will go away. Well, guess what? It's exceptionally rare for geopolitical problems to simply "disappear" through wishful thinking.

Calliban · 2022-04-14 02:38:46

Scaling down US global security commitments is a disaster in the making. No other country has a blue water navy capable of keeping global transportation routes safe. The entire world has benefited from that service. Without it, global supply chains would be a lot less reliable. But the US can no longer afford to provide this service to the rest of the world. The deficit spending threatens to collapse the dollar. The US took over this role from the British Empire. European powers would be even more hard pressed to build up the required capabilities these days. Nuclear powered warships perhaps? How many British teenagers today would want to spend their young years drafted out to a base in the far East? Not many I guess.

Europe's energy supply problems are either an impossible problem to solve, or a relatively easy problem, depending on how you choose to look at it. Here is a list of proven natural gas reserves, by country.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of … n_reserves

European countries are not in a good position for replacing Russian gas with domestic supplies. All European producers are past peak. That said, there are some decisions that have hastened domestic decline rates. Closing the Groningen gas field for example. Failing to develop UK shale gas resources due to political pressure from environmental groups.

We could build LNG import facilities and build additional liquefaction plants in countries with large natural gas resources. But I think that can only be part of the solution because of the scale of European demand. Really, the only solution to this problem is to replace natural gas with something else for heating and electricity production. Wind and solar power have actually increased our reliance on natural gas in the electricity sector. The two alternatives that would solve this problem and could be produced domestically are: (1) Increasing European coal production and producing coal gas for heating; or (2) Building lots of nuclear reactors and heating using electricity.

Given environmental concerns, the second option is overwhelmingly superior. But half of Europe has been busily burning its bridges with this option, for reasons that are entirely based on political ideology. Their best hope now is to turn to the French and hope that they can find a way of building those EPR reactors a lot more quickly. That shouldn't be beyond the wit of man, given that the EPR is a scaled up version of the N4. The French were knocking out several of them every year during the peak of their construction in the 1980s. And they were doing it cheaply- around $2000/kWe in modern money. Europe now needs something similar but on a grander scale.

There are a lot of possible fission reactor technologies that allow fission to be scaled up sustainably for millenia on the known resource base of uranium and thorium. We have discussed many of them on this board. Various types of fast neutron reactors. High conversion ratio light water reactors. Fusion fission hybrid reactors. Europe can and should be developing and building all of these things on a vast scale. It has been obvious since the 1970s that this was the only sensible long term solution to our problems. But few European countries have done the obvious logical thing because they don't want to. Political ideology overshadows any consideration of this problem. It infests the people in command like a computer virus in the brains. So with each passing year, they fail to solve the energy problem with anything effective. It is this intransigence with obvious need to scale up nuclear power, that has left us reliant on Russian natural gas. Even now, European leaders are dithering and trying to build more windmills in the sea. Things won't change until the lights start going out and the effects on people's lives force them to act. All that the rest of us can do is keep discussing the problem and hope to keep things like fusion fission hybrids in the solution space.

Last edited by Calliban (2022-04-14 03:27:43)

kbd512 · 2022-04-14 03:41:43

Calliban,

If the natural gas reserves are as limited as you say, then we'd best get on with replacing it with a more sustainable source, rather than complaining about running out. Anyway, shale gas is so cheap that they flare it off more often than not. I understand why they do it, but it's still a waste of perfectly good fuel.

The one thing we have plenty of, is nuclear fuel. We need to start using more of that. There's no shortage of Uranium or Thorium.

The best alternative to fertilizer would be to stop using so much of it, but then we'd need about twice as much land devoted to agriculture. It beats starving to death every day of the week.

Defending Ukraine is not about punishing Putin or ignoring the plight of people who depended upon Russia to honor its trade agreements, it's about responding appropriately to a street thug who is butchering people even if some people are too timid to fight back, despite having every conceivable advantage. If Putin invaded your country, should we worry about potentially saving people in another country because the Russian military is not actively butchering them? Something tells me that both the Americans and the Scots would fight for every square inch of Scotland, no matter the outcome.

These are some of the worst arguments I've heard for not fighting back...

It'll cost a lot. We need fuel. Other people may die. Jesus H.

War is never convenient and it's always ugly and dehumanizing. The best way to stop it is to defeat the enemy and move on with life. The world has never been and likely never will be the place I wish it was. It will certainly never become that idyllic place by kowtowing to the most brutal and inhumane amongst us.

Terraformer · 2022-04-14 06:16:47

Other people may die.

This is a pretty good argument for not fighting, or not fighting in a particular way. It's so good they *literally embedded it in the laws and customs of war*. You're not supposed to flatten a city to kill one guy, that's not militarily proportionate. Though perhaps that concept is a little too hard for the American military to grasp.

Or maybe it's just that, being in America, you know it won't be you paying the price. A few hundred million brown people may starve to death, but that is a sacrifice you are willing to make. Just not for liberating the citizens of the Republic of Korea who are suffering under the rule of a madman occupying half the country.

Calliban · 2022-04-14 07:08:09

Terraformer wrote:

Other people may die.
This is a pretty good argument for not fighting, or not fighting in a particular way. It's so good they *literally embedded it in the laws and customs of war*. You're not supposed to flatten a city to kill one guy, that's not militarily proportionate. Though perhaps that concept is a little too hard for the American military to grasp.
Or maybe it's just that, being in America, you know it won't be you paying the price. A few hundred million brown people may starve to death, but that is a sacrifice you are willing to make. Just not for liberating the citizens of the Republic of Korea who are suffering under the rule of a madman occupying half the country.

Maybe a little harder than I would have put it. My own thoughts, for whatever they are worth, are that we should do what we can to help the Ukrainians fight the Russians, short of starting a nuclear war. The Russians did invade them and have committed atrocities. Putin almost certainly did not order civilian atrocities to be carried out, but his government is responsible for them, because they ordered the invasion. So long as Russia remains in Ukraine, we should support the Ukrainians with whatever supplies they need.

But we should also make pursuing peace easy and attractive to the Russians. We should do what we can to encourage compromise and a negotiated peace. This isn't surrendering. It isn't cowardice. It is damage limitation. It is the mature attitude that tries to resolve a conflict in a way that minimises damage and casualties. A good statesman, carries a whip in one hand, but a carrot in the other. Our goal should be to make continued war as difficult and undesirable to Russia as possible, but peace something that is easy and comes with rewards, like the lifting of sanctions. That is how we educate toddlers. Calling Putin a street thug and building anti-Russian hysteria solves nothing. He is not a dictator, he was democratically elected in Russia. And he is popular there. The invasion was ordered by his government. We may not agree with it and it is clear that it was a tremendous tactical error for Russia. But the goal now is to try and restore peace.

tahanson43206 · 2022-04-14 07:20:26

For Calliban,

You have asserted that elections in Russia are "democratic"

You must have information to support that view, else (surely) you would not assert it.

I've missed the opportunity to study the information you are referencing, and would appreciate your pointing to it.

(th)

Terraformer · 2022-04-14 07:47:49

tahanson,

You have asserted that elections in Russia are somehow rigged. You must have information to support that view, no?

People in the West don't like Putin, and assume that their so obviously correct view must be shared by Russians, and so the only way he could be in power is if he keeps rigging the elections. But the truth is their elections aren't really any less democratic than those in the West.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-04-14 08:08:09

Some stuff I see on feeds

'Polish Government Accuses Russia of Assassinating Former President'
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/ … ent-201780

BLM co-founder: Charity transparency laws are 'triggering'
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news … triggering

What happens when you decide to leave Islam?
https://barenakedislam.com/2022/04/09/w … 69d27ca510

Richard Heinberg — The Failure of Global Elites
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2022 … al-elites/

South Africa's president blames climate change after flooding kills hundreds
https://www.npr.org/2022/04/13/10927535 … uth-africa

Subway shooting suspect to face terrorism charges
https://justthenews.com/nation/crime/su … rs-himself

Ann Coulter has a bad sense of humor
or has gone totally rightwing and lost her mind?
On The Black Subway Gunman: "In Historic First, 5’5″, 130-lb. Woman Confirmed To Supreme Court"
https://vdare.com/articles/ann-coulter- … reme-court

New Jersey female prisoners get pregnant by some transexual shemale trans men-women that wear a dress?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl … mates.html

Pink Floyd have reunited to record their first new material in 28 years, a protest song against the Ukraine war.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-61037080

Japan's lower house OKs bills to strip Russia of favored trade status
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022 … tatus.html

How Putin changed Russian Laws or the Constitution

Banned land going to foreign powers or Russian land owned by foreign interests

'Nullify the number of presidential terms served by the current president (Vladimir Putin) or former president (Dmitry Medvedev) to allow either to serve his first term if elected to the presidency in 2024.'

'Particular ministers who are the heads of law enforcement agencies must be appointed by the President in consultation with the Federation Council'

Talked about God
and normal Heterosexual Marriage

'Defining marriage as a relationship between one man and one woman.'

'Remove the "in a row" clause from the article regulating the maximum number of presidential terms, discounting previous presidential terms before the amendment enters into force.'

Amendments were seen as allowing President Vladimir Putin to serve as president after 2024. Under the previous version of the constitution, Putin would have been required to step down in 2024

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ … man-russia

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russ … SKBN20Q1DE

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/03/ … ion-a69491

kbd512 wrote:

Saudi Arabia is not mass murdering the Yemenis.

I would argue it is a totally unfair fight, one bunch of Sunni mohammedans are given high tech US weapons, the richer one is bombing a poorer bunch of mohammedans with AK-47s who fight but also hide inside villages.

The petrol-Dollar comes and that black demonic blood fuel taken from the islamist sands comes with its own unique politics, it perhaps helped poison the minds of corrupted Neocons who blamed Iraqis or Afghanistanis for hiding bin Laden or trying to 'Nuke America' ... criticism was not allowed, gossip was out there on the net that bin Laden fled helped by Saudis and Pakistan, there was an expanding 'Axis of Evil', a Patriotic Act passed, Dixie girl musicians sent death threats for not fully supporting the war and You were Either With Us or With the Terrorists.

Yemeni War is ongoing from 2014–present, there are other networks there, all different types of islamo mohammedans, the ones backed by Iranians, ISIS offshoots, Pro-Houthi, Tihamah Resistance islamists, Al-Qaeda type, estimates of more than 85,000 + dead as a result of an ongoing famine due to the war.

The 28 pages refers to the blacked out, censored, white washed section of the report after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001. A cover up and 911 conspiracy? Slowly over the years more and more info came out, some of it was declassified on July 2016, it shows support provided to the hijackers by the Saudi royals and their associates by Saudi Arabian officials and others suspected of being Saudi agents ... America talking tough during the 'War-On-Terror' but reduced to a prostitute bought and sold and controlled many times over by wicked foreign powers? Why did those guys with Tea Party Flags and Q-Anon banners raid...were they brained to do it by an Online Conspiracy cult...or was it anger or because of votes? they could have done the USA a favor, the sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) in the basement of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C are where you find those 28 pages, if they raided that place and took pix and made the pages public they could have done service to the victims of 911.

Saudi is not just mass murdering, and maybe the War is not just in one time, perhaps is Longer, Passing Generations almost Timeless like a Fantasy Novel or someone in a escapist story who fights across a Planet and other Moons. Some real-life down to Earth leaked information from CIA and FBI documents allege that there is "incontrovertible evidence" that Saudi government officials, including from the Saudi embassy in Washington and consulate in Los Angeles, gave the hijackers both financial and logistical aid. The House of Saudi not just mass murdering but creating interference, people have danced on roof tops as those WTC buildings came down, in the Land of the Free in Dearborn City in Michigan people can be hit with bottles, harassed, have stones thrown at them because of some offense against a foreign alien culture and their fictional pedophile terrorist Moongod called Al-Lah, the House of Saud supporting people who bomb pop concerts and make threats to cartoonists, subversion and destroying US Democracy.

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-04-14 08:42:16)

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#2001 2022-03-24 09:34:33

Re: Politics

#2002 2022-03-25 00:13:08

Re: Politics

#2003 2022-03-25 09:26:47

Re: Politics

#2004 2022-03-29 23:57:44

Re: Politics

#2005 2022-03-30 01:27:04

Re: Politics

#2006 2022-03-30 18:16:36

Re: Politics

#2007 2022-03-30 21:21:15

Re: Politics

#2008 2022-03-30 21:22:08

Re: Politics

#2009 2022-04-10 04:48:48

Re: Politics

#2010 2022-04-12 05:50:00

Re: Politics

#2011 2022-04-12 11:53:39

Re: Politics

#2012 2022-04-13 03:35:49

Re: Politics

#2013 2022-04-13 09:15:53

Re: Politics

#2014 2022-04-13 09:34:01

Re: Politics

#2015 2022-04-13 10:43:18

Re: Politics

#2016 2022-04-13 11:58:53

Re: Politics

#2017 2022-04-13 12:09:03

Re: Politics

#2018 2022-04-13 23:16:02

Re: Politics

#2019 2022-04-14 02:38:46

Re: Politics

#2020 2022-04-14 03:41:43

Re: Politics

#2021 2022-04-14 06:16:47

Re: Politics

#2022 2022-04-14 07:08:09

Re: Politics

#2023 2022-04-14 07:20:26

Re: Politics

#2024 2022-04-14 07:47:49

Re: Politics

#2025 2022-04-14 08:08:09

Re: Politics

Board footer