Ukraine Invaded by the Russians - March 2022

[Liam_Og]

@Brianjones

In fact Putin hasn’t changed its just the scale of the ambition that has changed.

The geographic location more than the scale.

[Brianjones]

I think Ukraine is way bigger in scale than anything he has ever attempted. The audacity as well right up to NATOs and EU borders.

[Liam_Og]

@Brianjones

The audacity as well right up to NATOs and EU borders

I recon what has been going on in Syria and Iraq is up a scale level- so far- if what you are measuring is human suffering. And Russia isn’t the only state.

I’m to be honest disturbed watching Ukraine news, but I also realize it was the same bad news before, just not in Europe.

Syrian war has like half a million killed

[Charlie_Jack]

@bingobango

@Dr_Milker

https://twitter.com/Reevellp/status/1500810351192985600

How delusional their demands are. At the very least, sovereign country Ukraine should not be prohibited from joining whatever the hell bloc it wants. You can’t just go into someone’s room, wreck their shit (putting it rather mildly), and then tell them you will stop only if they sign papers that not only formally has them concede to you part of their property, but also bounds them to not put a lock on the door (you know, so as to dissuade this insanity from happening again).

Clown world.

I agree, but I would add that to me, it looks as if Russia invaded Ukraine for merely discussing possibly joining NATO.

I think that it’s even possible that if Ukraine hadn’t discussed NATO at all, Russia might have invaded on some other pretext.

Reposting part of a reposting post :

@Charlie_Jack

Now, I’m pretty much neutral about the above, but I expressed my suspicions about that kind of thing on this board back in August of 2012, based on a familiar tune I’d heard on the radio some years before:

@Charlie_Jack

Years ago I occasionally caught the Voice of Russia (in English) on shortwave, and I noticed that their interval signal was “The Great Gate of Kiev.” It got me to wondering what might be on somebody’s mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS5MSICox2g

[OysterOmelet]

@BigDave

The Uk just raised 100 million pounds. Taiwanese need to up their game.

It’s on their doorstep and they’ve got a bigger population.

[BigDave]

Bigger pockets for sure. All joking aside, anyone who gives is a legend.

[LondonSpice]

I would like to agree with this? But I’m not savvy enough on situation.

Xi should pressure Putin to end this war for China’s own sake

[Charlie_Jack]

For @Brianjones:

The first part is “The Hut on Hen’s Legs,” but it leads into “The Great Gate of Kiev” at about 3:21:

MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition (The Great Gate of Kiev)

One more reposting:

@Charlie_Jack

@Hokwongwei

@Lros

no benefit from unification. i can see benefit from becoming a ‘real country’ called taiwan though.

Elaborate. What benefits?

That’s a very good question, and I mean that. So far I’ve only been able to come up with one clear, significant benefit (clear and significant to me, at least); then again, maybe we don’t all agree that this is a benefit:

"We want to be the owners of our own homeland.”

–Reuters, “End of Kiev crisis in sight as acting president chosen,” Taipei Times, February 24, 2014

[KINGKONGDONK]

don’t see that happening, unless the USA is willing to sell taiwan out. I think if the USA said, we won’t sell taiwan anymore weapons, and we will break all contact with their government. Then china might be willing to bargain, but china has it’s own issue.

[tommy525]

if the USA says that China will attack within 24 hours.

[KINGKONGDONK]

nvm

[KHHville]

@KHHville

This may be a bit over the top in analysis for various people here.
The dots being connected are quite good.
Interesting that LBMA will state that Former Good Delivery would still be considered Good Delivery, because not doing so would seriously fuq up the whole gold ETF ponzi scheme.
With all the screaming of western corporations and business organizations/assocations in the last few days saying they are fleeing Russia, why hasn’t LBMA suddenly said Russian gold bars held for western ETFs are NO longer good?

LBMA a deer in headlights as Western Sanctions show up Russian Gold Refiners

Maybe it’s because there are nearly 1000 Russian 400 oz gold bars currently being held in the famous SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) in a vault in London (either in the HSBC custodian vault or the Bank of England sub-custodian vault).

If you open the pdf and scroll to page1629, and then scroll down through to page 1646, see will see that the SPDR Gold Trust holds a huge number of gold bars from LBMA Russian refiners Novosibir, Prioksky, Krastsvetmet, Uralelectromed, I wonder how many GLD hedge fund and institutional investors know this? While gold bars from suspended Russian gold refineries may still be good delivery in the eyes of the LBMA, this is not the case in the eyes of traders.

Looking back to May 2018 at the time of Ekaterinburg’s suspension, Reuters said the following:

“Suspension from the list makes it harder for buyers and sellers to trade bars in the mainstream precious metals market, traders said.

‘"Our company would not touch any bars that are not LBMA-accredited,’ one trader at a major precious metals house said. ‘Most probably they are going to be in a secondary market.’

Events are running rapidly, and the coming week will be crucial to see how Russia and the Bank of Russia reacts to the SWIFT exclusions, and how the Bank of Russia will leverage its monetary gold reserves. Will Russia now accept gold for oil. What role will China play in all of this? Is the demise of the US dollar as world reserve currency at hand? Is the demise of the London fractional reserve paper trading gold system at hand?

In light of all of these new US – EU – UK sanctions against Russian banks, Russian state owned and strategic private Russian companies, and Russian oligarchs, I would say the LBMA has a major headache on its hands in the coming week as regards the LBMA Russian refineries.

But don’t worry, because, according to Reuters in May 2018, LBMA CEO Ruth Crowell said that “ due diligence in regard to the credibility of the lists is continuously reviewed on an ongoing basis ”.

Why did the LBMA issue an empty statement on 24 February titled “Sanctions: Timely Reminder” which didn’t even mention the word Russia, didn’t mention that VTB and Otkritie are no longer LBMA members, and didn’t mention any of the 6 LBMA Russian Good Delivery refiners? Because I looked up all of that information about these Russian refineries in less than an hour and matched it against the US – UK – EU sanctions, and if I can do that, so can the LBMA. But perhaps the LBMA is too busy organising conferences.

And Monday (US time) LBMA just announced:
…it “suspended all Russian refineries from its accredited list, meaning their newly minted bars can no longer trade in one of the world’s most important bullion centers.”

Zerohedge

@Brianjones , are those dots too hard for you to follow still?

[jdsmith]

China will take that gold. They need it, like bad.

[cake]

Interesting video Oliver Stone did on Ukraine:

REVEALING UKRAINE - Oliver stone

[jdsmith]

Breakingviews - Singapore trims Vladimir Putin’s fallback options

[jdsmith]

Got bullet points? I’m not listening to OS for 1.5 hours.
OK, so I went to reddit to see what they had:
https://www.reddit.com/r/RegimeChange101/comments/t4cbsu/oliver_stones_2016_doc_ukraine_on_fire_provides/

I thought the India angle was interesting. Care to comment on that aspect, mr cake, sir?

Bhai ye sab bahot hee ganda lag raha hai. It seems like India being neutral is more a favor to the West than to Russia.

And this. There’s more abt this on the web, but they’re honestly shouldn’t be:

A French restaurant says it’s received threats based on confusion around its namesake dish.
Poutine, fries doused in cheese curds and gravy, has nothing to do with Putin, it said.

[cake]

Don’t know much about the Indian aspect of that. The claim in the comments may be true.
The CIA has previous form. Anything the msm rigorously gets behind is Davos sponsored.

[jdsmith]

@cake

Anything the msm rigorously gets behind is Davos sponsored.

Yeah, that’s the creepy meeting I can’t believe just — happens.

[jdsmith]

Russian Internet Takes a Hit as Cogent Cuts Off Its Backbone Network

Splinternet. That’s sounds about right.

[Ducked]

Putins “Ukrainian Nazi’s” jive may be partly exploiting historical memory. During WW2 the Germans raised “volunteer” (SS?) units (the alternative being life and death in a non-Geneva convention Untermenschen POW camp) from recycled Red Army POW’s, especially Ukrainians.

At wars end the Sov’s were understandably pissed off with these people, some of whom had behaved rather badly in the interim, and they were unlikely to survive repatriation. People remember that kind of thing.

The British kept some of them and formed them into EOD units, clearing beach mines and such in the UK. When I was doing EOD in Shoeburyness a few decades later, I heard there was still a Ukrainian unit operating (now partly 2nd generation, it having become a “traditional” trade among the Ukrainian community) but AFAIK I never met any.