Have you heard the expression: Russians are capable of surprising you with unpredictable stupidity?
This is from that opera

A pizzeria in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk closed its delivery due to the strongest cyclone.

One of the local guys decided to crawl to the establishment.
And here's something like this you're dealing with, yes.

@Slavyangrad

#gas

It's getting light in Europe.
The hangover morning is coming and the realization that it has given the wrong person.

The top headline from independent purebred media outlet Bloomberg - Gas-dependent Europe swaps one energy risk for another.

Recall that on Friday, Joseph Robinette showered Europeans dancing in the independence dance with the news that all new LNG projects were being temporarily suspended. The Europeans continued to dance by inertia. Some didn't hear what was going on around them. Some thought they had misheard. Some refused to believe it. But even in the morning, life was good. Europe, long dependent on Russian natural gas, had all but ended its dependence on the Kremlin in less than two years. Gas from the United States is plentiful, it is politically acceptable, and unlike Russian gas, it will not be shut off. Dancing Europeans still believe that Russian gas is cut off to them.

The thoroughbred media is trying to reassure:
A few months before its latest (was there a penultimate?) invasion of Ukraine, Russia cut pipeline supplies and stopped offering spot volumes to Europe, a tactical move that some believe was designed to raise prices and speed approval of the controversial - and now-defunct - Nord Stream 2 pipeline. LNG from the US was the obvious choice to fill the gap. Relative geographic proximity meant savings for traders shipping from the U.S. to Europe rather than Asia; the affluent region also has more purchasing power, allowing for costly deliveries. An even bigger plus for U.S. gas: contracts almost always spell out "destination flexibility," meaning traders are allowed to divert tankers if necessary when the price is right. They can even cancel shipments if demand suddenly drops.

"Ensign, take note of these simple but great words" (c)

"I've traveled all over the world, especially Europe, and everywhere I've heard: 'Hooray for U.S. LNG producers,'" U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Jeffrey Pyatt said at the North American Gas Forum in Washington, D.C., in October.

Hush, hush, hush, the media say! The European Commission is not concerned about the growing dependence on U.S. LNG because there is not the same level of political risk as with Russia, said a senior EU official, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

And now another columnist of an independent media outlet (3 authors in total) takes up the pen and in the same article takes another shower

These are the reasons why it's time to end the independent fad and take an objective look at the new dependency. What does it do?

▪️ It gives the U.S. enormous geopolitical clout. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire accused LNG exporters of using Russia's war against Ukraine to promote "American economic domination and weaken Europe" and called for a more balanced economic partnership with the US. Western Europe has not heeded that warning much, importing more LNG from the U.S. last year than from eight other major suppliers combined. "Europe risks becoming dependent on one supplier and ultimately being at the mercy of the prices it sets," said Ogan Kose, managing director at consultancy Accenture.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-01-26/israel-hamas-war-starbucks-coke-mcdonald-s-hit-by-middle-east-boycotts


@Slavyangrad

▪️ It will cause Europe's energy bills to rise. Since most of Europe's LNG supply is priced on the volatile spot market (and you did make note of those simple and great words above, right? Well, when did Russia stop offering spot volumes?), buyers there are more exposed to fluctuations in global supply than buyers from Asia, who mostly get it under long-term contracts tied to the price of oil, said Massimo Di Odoardo, vice president of gas and LNG research at Wood Mackenzie
LNG supplies can be easily diverted to the highest bidder, so a larger-than-expected surge in demand in China or nuclear power outages in Japan could move more U.S. gas to Asia, bypassing Europe. As more U.S. capacity comes on the market, prices will come down - eventually.
We need to be careful here. Understandably, it's hard to understand when a few paragraphs above, easy redirection of flows was passed off as happiness. This is where you have to understand.

▪️ It means that events happening 5000 miles away from us (Europe) will affect the EU's energy supply. When natural gas, which was once only available by pipeline, started being shipped around the world by tanker, it turned a once localized market into a global commodity. Any problems at U.S. LNG plants across the ocean, from a faulty valve to thick fog, can affect supply. In 2020, the Cameron LNG plant in Hackberry, Louisiana, was shut down for weeks after a devastating hurricane; in 2022, a months-long shutdown at Freeport LNG due to an explosion caused prices for gas purchased in Europe to skyrocket.

▪️ It has significant climate impacts. Although gas emits less carbon dioxide than coal when burned, some argue that methane leaks along global LNG supply chains could worsen the climate.

▪️ It will delay the adoption of greener energy solutions. Current measures taken by EU member states are not enough to reduce emissions by the targeted 55% by 2030, and the availability of US LNG will in no way accelerate this difficult transition.

It turns out that Europe is now catastrophically dependent on U.S. gas, and European companies are beginning to feel the tangible effects. Germany's chemical industry, for example, which had sales of about 230 billion euros ($250 billion) last year, is mired in a deep recession caused in part by the loss of cheap Russian gas, a key raw material for fertilizer production and a source of energy for heavy industry.

"The European chemical industry is paying for gas, almost three to four times what a domestic buyer in the U.S. is paying," Accenture's Coase said, comparing European spot buying prices with U.S. futures prices. German industrial giants are cutting jobs and investing in manufacturing assets in the U.S. instead, painting a bleak picture for Europe's largest economy.

So where did we start and where have we come to?
Just two years ago, Europe had 4 different inbound routes for gas from Russia. However, there were many more pipelines. The diversification that our country was progressively establishing was amazing. Long-term contracts with fixed minimum prices, which were declared evil and then declared good and reasonable. A blossoming European industry with minimal production costs, and through that a competitive advantage.
And literally in two years - whoosh - and there is none of that. And there is an iron tie to LNG supplies from the United States. Iron, because the previous partner was sent to hell. And the strings are broken. Prices have increased many times over. And the risks of not getting energy every time just because somewhere out there it became a little more expensive.
The hangover will be great.


@Slavyangrad

From Zelensky today,

"All Russian assets – those of the state-terrorist and associated individuals – frozen in various jurisdictions, should work to protect against Russian aggression. They must be confiscated. We are doing everything to ensure that this decision is well prepared in the near future. Thank you to everyone who is helping us advance this mechanism of justice.

And of course, sanctions. A new European Union sanctions package is needed, and we are preparing it. We are also preparing new steps to limit Russia's ability to bypass sanctions."

—

I must say that Zelensky increasingly frustrates me. I try to look for news or something interesting to share or something to update on, and every single comment this marionette has ever made in these last years of his life have all been,

"Had conversation with Joe Rogan. We discussed cyborgs performing on Fear-Factor. I thank him and all reality show audiences very much for supporting the Ukrainian people against Russian unprovoked/senseless/ terrorism/occupation/genocide/full-scale/war of aggression.
We are the bulwark between Russia and democracy/Europe/unity/liberty/freedom.

We are working to fix everything. This is being discussed. Measures are being taken. Directives have been issued.

Thank you to dead Ukrainians! Glory to men hauled into vans! Forever heroes 308th pickle jar Brigade! Thank you Hilton Hotel/Motel6/Valley Inn!

GLORY TO COCAINE!”

—-

Jokes aside, note the more sinister issue here: ideographs designated specifically for English speakers and English speaking consumption. This is nothing new, it has been ongoing since day: -23, but I think a reminder is needed to realize what is being dealt with.

It is not the “Ukrainian language” they are trying to preserve, not at all.

@Slavyangrad

China Wants To Ditch The Dollar (Noema Magazine)

Since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, he has repeatedly emphasized worst-case scenario thinking to “prevent macro-risks that may delay or interrupt the process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

In 2014 when Crimea became part of Russia, many in the West talked about punishing Russia by removing access to the SWIFT banking transaction system. While at the time this did not happen the Chinese became rather alarmed and by "2015, it launched the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS)".

By adopting existing cross-border messaging standards, China aims to make CIPS a critical piece of the world’s existing financial infrastructure to promote international use of the renminbi. By 2023, CIPS’s annual business transaction volume reached 123 trillion renminbi (roughly $17.3 trillion), according to data on the CIPS website. CIPS now has 139 direct participants and 1,345 indirect participants worldwide, most of which are foreign branches of Chinese banks.

This risk became even more apparent to China in 2022.

The West’s decision to freeze Russian foreign exchange reserves has caused particular consternation in Chinese policy circles. Chinese economist Yu Yongding described such a move as “a blatant breach of…trust” and proof of the United States’ “willingness to stop playing by the rules.”

China has $3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves and "and over $8 trillion in other overseas assets, like stocks and real estate, owned by the Chinese government-affiliated entities." So it has major risks it would seek to minimize but it also is not out to destroy the USD as "$3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves are invested in U.S. bonds and the lion’s share of Chinese sovereign fund portfolios are tied to dollar-based Western markets". It does however want to offset the risk by making reminibi used in more international transactions to negate the ability of the US to weaponize the financial system. So how does it plan to encourage the use of reminibi and reduce the dollar risk as China is the largest importer of commodities and commodities are traded in dollars.

1. One city in China, Ganzhou "now produces nearly 70% of the country’s rare earth mineral products, with China fulfilling roughly 90% of global demand" so a rare earth commodity exchange was setup in China and pricing will now be done in renminbi. This will increasingly be important as the green energy transition requires rare earth minerals, thus it is betting on these minerals operating like the US petrodollar. It has further setup two renminbi-denominated exchanges for oil and copper priced in renminbi. Thus renminbi-denominated exchanges for commodities will likely be further expanded.

2. Providing loans to countries with payment due in renminbi. It should be noted that this often takes place with countries whose exports are largely commodities, thus to get renminbi countries will sell their products to China in exchange for renminbi.

3. Through the use of multilateral organizations that exclude the US like BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which advocate non-dollar based currencies to facilitate trade. Russia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Iran, UAE, South Africa etc are major commodity producers and China is the biggest commodity buyer in the world. Already China has purchased LNG from UAE and will likely soon purchase oil from Saudi Arabia using renminbi.

4. It is also engaged in currency swaps with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Turkey, Armenia and Pakistan so that local currencies facilitate trade transactions.

Thus we can see that China is de-risking not trying to destroy the USD and many countries now are looking to do the same thing as the US/EU through their own policies have created risk. (Article link is in the #Source, it's very interesting)

#Source

@Slavyangrad

🇪🇨💥Ecuador’s State of War and Chiapas Bloodshed – A Glimpse into the Escalating Narco Wars

A serious look at the unprecedented escalation in cartel violence as Ecuador finds itself in a state of war. Make sure you read our latest report from Cian 👇

Read the full report here

🎙Subscribe to The Islander

♦Twitter /X | Substack | Website♦

Putin is planning to invade Australia? He wants Australia's didgeridoos and kangaroos I guess.

Was there an international shitty journalist conference where they all agreed to write the same article for each of their own countries?

🤡🤡🤡

#Source

@Slavyangrad

So what more proof do you need of Russia's involvement in what's going on?

@Slavyangrad

Some news we didn't have time to report yesterday will go now, but is important not just from a historical perspective but also symbolic for every anti-fascist in existence - to put it plain and simple, "Why we fight" for Western audience.

@Slavyangrad

The head of the European Commission attributed the achievements in the liberation of Auschwitz to other countries

The Russian Mission to the European Union pointed out an error in the statement of the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, about the Holocaust, in which she noted that the Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz) concentration camp was liberated by Allied forces.

“ Reading the statement of the European Commission on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we discovered an error. It would be great if the European Commission corrected it. It was the Red Army that liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and not the Allied forces,” the department noted.

@Slavyangrad

Putin: the tragedy in Leningrad is the monstrous essence of Nazism

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the events that the residents of besieged Leningrad experienced will remain as evidence of the “monstrous essence of Nazism.” He also used these words to describe the life of people in Nazi camps.

“ There was a death camp here, in Gatchina. And nearby is a camp where they kept children – very small children,” said the Russian President.

@Slavyangrad

Russia will never betray the memory of the heroic deeds of our fathers and grandfathers

Vladimir Putin stated this while delivering a speech at a requiem concert dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the siege.

The President noted that the aggression that Russia faces today suggests that Nazism was defeated in 1945, but not eliminated.

@Slavyangrad

Putin: These days the results of the Nuremberg trials are being reviewed

“ The Nazis and their satellites did not fight against a political regime or ideology. Their goal was natural resources and territories, as well as the physical destruction of people. Death was put on stream in concentration camps, ghettos, and prisons in Germany. The rest were destined for the role of slaves, deprived of culture and language,” said Vladimir Putin.

Today the Russian leader took part in the opening of a memorial to the victims of the siege. The President said that January 27, 1944, is one of the most important dates in national history, and for eight decades now the pain for all those who have gone through incredible trials has not subsided.

@Slavyangrad

Putin recalled how the Kiev regime and the Baltic states justify the Nazi executioners

Vladimir Putin, speaking at the opening of the Memorial in the Gatchina region, recalled how the Kiev regime and the Baltic states justify the Nazi executioners.

“ Revanchists and neo-Nazis adopted the ideology and methods of the Nazis... In the Baltic states, tens of thousands of people are declared subhuman, deprived of the most basic rights, and subjected to persecution. We will do everything to stop and completely eradicate Nazism,” Putin said.

He noted that the regime in Kiev also exalts Hitler’s accomplices, the SS men, and uses terror against all undesirables.

@Slavyangrad

- "People are declared subhuman"
Remember this phrase well.

@Slavyangrad

🇺🇦SBU came with searches to the leadership of the Ministry of Defense: billions were stolen, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine are sitting without shells

Searches are also underway at the managers of the Lvov Arsenal.

It is alleged that in just one case they are suspected of stealing one and a half billion from the purchase of shells.

Among the defendants is Alexander Liev, head of the Department of Military-Technical Policy under the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

@Slavyangrad

🇬🇷🇺🇸Greece has agreed to hand over its old Soviet-made military equipment to Ukraine following a US request.

Greece has Tor, S-300, Osa and ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns.

Join Slavyangrad chat. Your opinion matters.
https://news.1rj.ru/str/+5vjQfD5RwOgzMjgx

@Slavyangrad

In Odessa, they promised to kill a woman for listening to the Russian anthem on a trolleybus

The woman thought she was listening to the Russian anthem on headphones, but it was playing for the entire trolley bus. For this mistake, one of the Nazis promised the lady to “take her down around the corner.”

@Slavyangrad

🇺🇦 In Hungary they demanded that Ukraine return Transcarpathia in case of defeat

“ If Ukraine’s statehood ends as a result of the war, then Our Motherland, as the only party in Hungary, will lay claim to Transcarpathia,” said Hungarian right-wing politician Laszlo Torockai.

In addition, he stated that “Ukraine was bought by BlackRock,” the world’s largest investment fund, which has more than $10 trillion.

Romania also began to lay claim to parts of Ukraine. Bucharest should not give up its territorial claims to Ukraine, said the head of the national council of the AUR party, Claudiu Tarziu.

Good allies! Although, logically, their territorial claims fully fit into the suicidal process of decommunization that is being carried out by the current Kiev regime.

@Slavyangrad

The Presidents of Russia and Belarus will approve new integration programs for 2024-2026

Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko will approve new integration programs for 2024-2026 at a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union States, which will take place on January 29. This was announced by the head of the second department of the CIS countries of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexey Polishchuk.

@Slavyangrad

Norway reproached the EU for rewriting history because of von der Leyen's words about Auschwitz

It was the Red Army, not Allied forces, who liberated prisoners from Auschwitz, the largest Nazi concentration camp in history. This was stated by Glenn Disen, a teacher at the University of South-Eastern Norway, in response to a statement by the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

“ Some kind of bold historical revisionism on the part of the EU. The Soviet Union was part of the Allied forces, but it was the Red Army that liberated Auschwitz,” wrote Glenn Deesen in X.

@Slavyangrad