Timid World Order
Walking On Eggshells,
This review of Chinese President Xi Xinping's visit to Moscow tries to be somewhat sensational, but there is not a lot to announce. Status quo, with a teaser that in their last remarks together, they agreed that the world would go through changes unseen in 100 years. China's peace proposal was "pretty good for a start, but Ukraine won't negotiate", to paraphrase the Russian response. The US Secretary of State scuttled the idea of peace talks until Russia retreats from the newly-annexed Novorussian oblasts, which are now "Russia" again.
The US/NATO/etc. have fallen short of weakening Russia, and are now being drained by Russia, as China makes diplomatic inroads. The world sees the American/NATO military as a weakened threat, US diplomacy as a thing of the past, and awaits further developments in the $US crisis. It seems likely that more was spoken about the world doing deals in Yuan.Renminbi than was announced. Sergey Glazyev recently decried the lack of consensus, which is holding back the new BRICS trade currency. It seems likely that there will be much reluctance until the $US sustains some mortal wound. I'm guessing... https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/china-gives-washington-advice-ukraine-after-xi-putin-pledge-shape-new-world-order
This announcement serves to strengthen the $US, as do banking backstop measures recently introduced. (Gold went up $2 on the news. Was somebody expecting a bigger 50 basis points hike?) "QT" is relative. The Fed balance sheet grew by $300 billion in the past week.
Fed Hikes Rates 25bps, Maintains QT, Removes Hawkish Guidance
https://www.kitco.com/charts/livegold.html
Saudi Arabia is taking a more independent course from the US now, and distancing from Israeli interests. AMLO declares Mexico, "Not a colony of the US".
Why the West’s standoff with Russia and China is a big opportunity for the world’s second-tier powers
With the US distracted by its attempts to “contain” Moscow and Beijing, other players have a window of freedom https://www.rt.com/news/573389-big-opportunity-for-second-tier-powers/
Christine sends this about Iran's stock rising as the Petrobuck Empire loses its grip.
The Riyadh – Tehran detente deal could be a major win for not only the Middle East but also larger projects seeking more integration of greater Eurasia. If the deal is implemented, China’s Belt and Road Initiative could become a key component of the economic futures of both Saudi Arabia and Iran. The rapprochement could also pay dividends for the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project, which runs from St. Petersburg to Mumbai in India via Azerbaijan (or the Caspian Sea) and Iran and across the Arabian Sea. The “sanction-proof” corridor connects the Indian subcontinent with Russia without needing to go through Europe while simultaneously being 30 percent cheaper and 40 percent shorter than the existing routes...
About those inadequate Iranian ports and railroads...
Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said March 15 that Saudi investments into Iran could happen “very quickly” following the agreement to restore diplomatic ties. He added that he does not see any impediment as long as the terms of agreements are respected by Tehran.
Any Saudi economic dealing with Iran would undercut US sanctions imposed to pressure Tehran, if not violating them outright. With tens of billion of dollars in Iranian assets blocked worldwide, the prospect of Saudi investments could jumpstart the INSTC and help maintain the peace between Riyadh and Tehran...
..India, Turkey, and Egypt are among the countries discussing free trade agreements with the EAEU. And Iran signed one in January. The primary driver for the Iran-EAEU integration is to upgrade Iran’s transport and logistics infrastructure, i.e., the INSTC.
The importance of the INSTC and its link to the Middle Corridor, which enables Russian traffic to head east via Kazakhstan to China, and vice-versa, is growing to include the entire region.
Mish Shedlock presents the absurd idea that an economy based on oil, coal, gas and mineral ores can spend enough money, derived from those things, to replace them completely, with things that don't even exist as testable concepts yet. The usual solution would be to kill a bunch of people and steal their stuff.
My take has long been that the Climate Change control-narrative is close enough to the reality of depletion of the finite resources which fuel our industrial life-support system. It provides a lie, because our political class can only work with lies. The truth would paralyze them.
That being said, there has not been as much global warming in the last decade as there has been weird weather. The earth goes through worse shifts than what is being forecast from anthropogenic global warming fairly frequently, like multiple years without summers in the pst few hndred years, marked by famine, plague and burning-witches. The more we depend on distant water, high electricity use, distant food, and lots of fuel, the more precarious our lives may soon become.
Don't Worry, It Will Only Cost $131 Trillion to Address Climate Change
The UN is out with another climate change fearmongering report. Let's take a look. https://mishtalk.com/economics/dont-worry-it-will-only-cost-131-trillion-to-address-climate-change
Christine sent this article from El Gato Malo about iatrogenic deaths, when the cure is worse than the disease, pointing out the massive deaths from ventilators during COVID hospitalizations, before the viral effects on thelungs were probelrly understood, whch killed so very many people. This we knew, but I did not know that a lot of the deaths from the 1918-1919 "Spanish" Flu may have been from aspirin overdose. The recommended doses of the new drug (8000 to 31,000 mg per day) are now recognized as overdoses that cause pulmonary edema, hyperventilation and contribute to easy bleeding, which was often found on autopsies. OOOPS! Aspirin was the new good thing back then. A lot of young adults took it.
COVID-19: Doctors’ Group Says to Recall Vaccine (A conservative stance. This might be shared with friends and family)
Is your doctor pressuring you to “get boosted”?
Most doctors probably are. And so are radio ads. An annual COVID shot may become the “new normal,” along with the flu shot.
“Safe and effective” is a constant refrain. But most people probably assume that it is—or else our protective government wouldn’t allow it! Right?
A number of physicians, some former vaccine enthusiasts, are now warning about adverse effects—including sudden death— and saying “it’s time to stop the shots.” https://aapsonline.org/covid-19-doctors-group-says-to-recall-vaccine/
Peter McCullough MD points out that a new study, with better methodology, which does not overcount those who have received COVID-19 vaccine-products, finds that 25% of American adults have never received one of these injections. Uptake has been less than advertised. This fits with studies I have followed.
Twenty Five Percenter (pictured harvesting kale in Austin garden)
EXCELLENT article. I just don’t understand why we’re putting up with this sh*t! We don’t NEED to rely on anyone else for any other of our resources, save (maybe) for rare earth minerals.
A hospital almost murdered my extremely fit & healthy older brother (an ortho surgeon) while at family vacation home in Utah. My OTHER older brother (also a physician) saved his life by flying up there and demanding his release.
I can’t imagine what I would have done had they murdered him.
I’m the youngest of six and it’s so easy being the baby, but ALSO can ce very difficult when I see all of what is happening and others (in my circle) seem almost clueless!