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REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS
Alas, poor Europe. I knew it well, Horatio.
Wednesday, October 12, 2022 12:46 PM
SIGNYM
I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.
Quote:French Gas [gasoline] Rationing Begins As Refinery Strikes Worsen After Government Calls Back Essential Workers
Wednesday, October 12, 2022 6:22 PM
SECOND
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
Monday, October 24, 2022 9:09 AM
Quote: New Data Shows Immigrants Are Driving Down Wages For German Workers
Monday, October 24, 2022 9:47 AM
6IXSTRINGJACK
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: Quote: New Data Shows Immigrants Are Driving Down Wages For German Workers https://rmx.news/germany/new-data-shows-immigrants-are-driving-down-wages-for-german-workers/ Jeez. Ya think?!? ----------- Pity would be no more, If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake
Wednesday, October 26, 2022 7:24 PM
Wednesday, November 2, 2022 4:56 PM
Wednesday, November 2, 2022 10:11 PM
Sunday, November 6, 2022 2:41 PM
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: Putin sabotaged his own pipelines? BWAHAHAHA!!!
Wednesday, November 16, 2022 2:57 PM
Quote: Germany Preparing For Emergency Cash Deliveries, Bank Runs And "Aggressive Discontent" Ahead Of Winter Power Cuts Wednesday, Nov 16, 2022 - 04:20 PM While Europe has been keeping a generally optimistic facade ahead of the coming cold winter, signaling that it has more than enough gas in storage to make up for loss of Russian supply even in a "coldest-case" scenario, behind the scenes Europe's largest economy is quietly preparing for a worst case scenario which include angry mobs and bankruns should blackouts prevent the population from accessing cash. As Reuters reports ( Exclusive: Germany steps up emergency cash plans to cope in blackout https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/exclusive-germany-steps-up-emergency-cash-plans-cope-blackout-sources-2022-11-15/) citing four sources, German authorities have stepped up preparations for emergency cash deliveries in case of a blackout (or rather blackouts) to keep the economy running, as the nation braces for possible power cuts arising from the war in Ukraine. The plans include the Bundesbank hoarding extra billions to cope with a surge in demand, as well as "possible limits on withdrawals", one of the people said. And if you think crypto investors are angry when they can't access their digital tokens in a bankrupt exchange, just wait until you see a German whose cash has just been locked out. Officials and banks are looking not only at origination (i.e., money-printing) but also at distribution, discussing for example priority fuel access for cash transporters, according to other sources commenting on preparations that accelerated in recent weeks after Russia throttled gas supplies. The planning discussions involve the central bank, its financial market regulator BaFin, and multiple financial industry associations, said the Reuters sources most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity about plans that are private and in flux. Although German authorities have publicly played down the likelihood of a blackout and bank runs - for obvious reasons - the discussions show both how seriously they take the threat and how they struggle to prepare for potential crippling power outages caused by soaring energy costs or even sabotage. They also underscore the widening ramifications of the Ukraine war for Germany, which has for decades relied on affordable Russian energy and now faces double-digit inflation and a threat of disruption from fuel and energy shortages. As everyone familiar with the recent history of the Wimar Republic Germany knows, access to cash is of special concern for Germans, who value the security and anonymity it offers, and who tend to use it more than other Europeans, with some still hoarding Deutschmarks replaced by euros more than two decades ago. According to a recent Bundesbank study, roughly 60% of everyday German purchases are paid in cash, and Germans, on average, withdrew more than 6,600 euros annually chiefly from cash machines. ... At times politics can get in the way of blackout planning. In Frankfurt, Germany's banking capital, one city council member proposed requiring it to present a blackout plan by Nov. 17. The politician, Markus Fuchs of the right-wing AfD party, told the council it would be irresponsible not to plan for one. But the other parties rejected the proposal, accusing Fuchs and his party of inciting panic. Fuchs later said in a phone interview: "If we found a solution for world peace, it would be rejected." The issue also underscores the dependence of commerce on technology, with transactions increasingly electronic, and where most cash machines have no emergency power source. Cash would be the only official payment method that would still work, said Thomas Leitert, chief of KomRe, a company that advises cities on planning for blackouts and other catastrophes. "How else will the ravioli cans and candles be paid for?" Leitert said. Well, there is that whole crypto thing, but the 2nd biggest Democratic donor did a bang up job there...
Thursday, November 17, 2022 10:54 PM
Quote: You are under contrôle: French elites privately fear the US and new research explains why Intelligence services worry about American economic warfare more than terrorism or the prospect of confrontation with Russia or China New research published by France’s Ecole de Guerre Economique [School of Economic War] has revealed some extraordinary findings about who and what the French intelligence services fear most when it comes to threats to the country’s economy. The findings are based on extensive research and interviews with French intelligence experts, including representatives of spy agencies, and so reflect the positions and thinking of specialists in the under-researched field of economic warfare. Their collective view is very clear- 97 percent consider the US to be the foreign power that “most threatens” the “economic interests” of Paris. Who is your true enemy? The research was conducted to answer the question, “what will become of France in an increasingly exacerbated context of economic war?”. This query has become increasingly urgent for the EU as Western sanctions on Moscow’s exports, in particular energy, have had a catastrophic effect on European countries, but have not had the predicted effect Russia. Nor have they hurt the US, the country pushing most aggressively for these measures. Yet, the question is not being asked in other EU capitals. It is precisely the continent-wide failure, or unwillingness at least, to consider the “negative repercussions on the daily lives” of European citizens that inspired the Ecole de Guerre Economique report. As the report’s lead author Christian Harbulot explains, ever since the end of World War II, France has “lived in a state of the unspoken,” as have other European countries. [kind of like an abused wife] At the conclusion of that conflict, “manifest fear” among French elites of the Communist Party taking power in France “strongly incited a part of the political class to place our security in the hands of the US, in particular by calling for the establishment of permanent military bases in France.” “It goes without saying that everything has its price. The compensation for this aid from across the Atlantic was to make us enter into a state of global dependence - monetary, financial, technological - with regard to the US,” Harbulot says. And aside from 1958 - 1965 when General Charles de Gaulle attempted to increase the autonomy of Paris from Washington and NATO, French leaders have “fallen into line.” This acceptance means aside from rare public scandals such as the sale of French assets to US companies, or Australia canceling its purchase of French-made submarines in favor of a controversial deal with the US and UK (AUKUS), there is little recognition - let alone discussion - in the mainstream as to how Washington exerts a significant degree of control over France’s economy, and therefore politics. As a result, politicians and the public alike struggle to identify “who their enemy” truly is. “In spheres of power” across Europe, Harbulot says, “it is customary to keep this kind of problem silent,” and economic warfare remains an “underground confrontation which precedes, accompanies and then takes over from classic military conflicts.” ... I spy with my Five Eyes Harbulot believes the “state of the unspoken” to be even more pronounced in Germany, as Berlin “seeks to establish a new form of supremacy within Europe” based on its dependency on the US. ... It is certainly hard to imagine such an illuminating and honest report being produced by a Berlin-based academic institute, despite the country being the most badly affected by anti-Russian sanctions. Some analysts have spoken of a possible deindustrialization of Germany, as its inability to power energy-intensive economic sectors has destroyed its 30-year-long trade surplus - maybe forever. ... It was clearly not for nothing that veteran US grand strategist and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once remarked, “to be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.”
Friday, November 18, 2022 12:04 AM
Friday, November 18, 2022 4:55 AM
JAYNEZTOWN
Saturday, November 19, 2022 10:14 AM
Saturday, November 19, 2022 1:38 PM
Quote: “Italy will never be the weak link of the West with us in government. Italy, with its head high, is part of Europe and the (NATO) Atlantic alliance. Whoever doesn’t agree with this cornerstone cannot be part of the government, at the cost of not having a government,”
Saturday, November 19, 2022 1:55 PM
THG
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: The end of the "age of abundance", where abundance means hot showers, street lights at night, eating meat, warmth in the winter... Multiple EU "leaders" tell their people to suck it up. Beginning 30:30
Saturday, November 19, 2022 2:01 PM
Saturday, November 19, 2022 2:05 PM
Quote:Originally posted by THG: Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: The end of the "age of abundance", where abundance means hot showers, street lights at night, eating meat, warmth in the winter... Multiple EU "leaders" tell their people to suck it up. Beginning 30:30 Alas, poor Europe. I knew it well, Horatio. POSTED BY: SIGNYM
Saturday, November 19, 2022 2:07 PM
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: Meloni is doing exactly what I predicted she would do: make "refugees" an issue, but stay the coursexAFA NATO, Russia, USA, and Ukraine. Berlesconi, former Italian PM and head of Forza Italiano (an Italian political part and part of Meloni's coalition) made a friendly comment about Putin https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/20/europe/italy-berlusconi-putin-friendship-leaked-audio-intl-hnk/index.html and and Meloni told him to STFU, and said Quote: “Italy will never be the weak link of the West with us in government. Italy, with its head high, is part of Europe and the (NATO) Atlantic alliance. Whoever doesn’t agree with this cornerstone cannot be part of the government, at the cost of not having a government,” So she's girl boss AFA internal policy is concerned (and even then, I doubt that extends to independent financial and economic policy since Italy owes the ECB lots of Euros) but not boss of foreign policy. Italy's foreign policy is still in the hands of Brussels and, ultimately, the USA. ----------- Pity would be no more, If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake
Saturday, November 19, 2022 2:36 PM
Saturday, November 19, 2022 2:57 PM
Saturday, November 19, 2022 7:09 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK: That's not going to age well. -------------------------------------------------- Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.
Saturday, November 19, 2022 8:09 PM
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: Quote:Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK: That's not going to age well. -------------------------------------------------- Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it. Yeah. It hasn't even survived its first few moments, since it's wrong. ----------- Pity would be no more, If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake
Wednesday, November 23, 2022 8:02 PM
Monday, October 30, 2023 2:03 PM
Saturday, June 8, 2024 11:29 AM
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