Monday, February 28, 2022
Kharkiv
Lost
Don't get me wrong, I like Bill Palmer and value his opinions. Yet, take this one with a grain of salt. There are lots of reports out there about all kinds of things that may or may not be occurring in this new miserable war. I've seen the reports that Bill cites for this article. There are also reports of the E.U. sending jets and weaponry into Ukraine, reports of other countries' troops joining with Ukrainian forces, and on and on. Just recognize that not all of it may be true. Be careful. In general it appears that the will of the Ukrainian fighters is off the charts, they are determined and are giving Putin a real hard time considering Putin apparently thought this war would be a cake walk. Incidentally we're also seeing reports of shake-ups in the Russian military including a few military leaders who have committed suicide and who knows what that means. Also it needs to be pointed out that Zelensky is showing amazing bravery and fortitude in the midst of the chaos, he is emerging as a major hero. It's rather stunning and inspiring, and I personally worry about his welfare. I do not want to see that man killed, I want him to preside over a free Ukraine that has somehow defeated Russia purely on will and determination.
The Palmer Report: “Confused” Russian troops are getting lost in Ukraine By Bill Palmer
Stymie
Washington Post: Ukraine holds off Russian advances toward major cities for another night By Siobhán O'Grady, Steve Hendrix and Isabelle Khurshudyan
Ukrainian forces continued to stymie Russia’s advance toward major cities Monday, allowing local governments to resume some level of normal activity, at least temporarily.
Thank Goodness For Biden
The American ambassador to the United Nations reminded the Security Council on Sunday afternoon that Russia was “under no threat” and chided Mr. Putin for “another escalatory and unnecessary step that threatens us all.” The White House made it clear that America’s own alert status had not changed.
The Market On Monday
Good morning. At 6:55 a.m. ET DOW futures are -431; the market is poised to open significantly lower.
Friday, February 25, 2022
Condemn
Washington Post: Biden, bipartisan U.S. lawmakers condemn Russia for escalation in Ukraine By Amy Cheng and María Luisa Paúl
In an interview with Fox News, former president Donald Trump said Putin had undertaken the military maneuver “because of a rigged election” in the United States.
Terrifying
Some 43 percent of Ukrainians, according to a recent poll, are ready to fight the Russians — and more than 100,000 have already joined defense units across the country. We will fight, as our foreign minister said on Wednesday, for every inch of our land. Proud citizens of one of Eastern Europe’s democracies, we refuse to be ruled by military diktat.
Kyiv
Russia on Friday rejected talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and made it clear that it was seeking to topple his democratically elected government, which Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov said was steered by “neo-Nazis” and the West.
The Market On Friday
Good morning. At 6:40 a.m. ET DOW futures are -287; the market is poised to open significantly lower.
Thursday, February 24, 2022
Prediction
Why
NY Times: No Justification for a Brazen Invasion By The Editorial Board
All this makes clear that Mr. Putin’s attack is not primarily about NATO or security. It’s all about his xenophobic, imperial and misguided notion that Ukraine was inherently an appendage of Russia, its independence a historical fluke and its rulers usurpers.
Next
Rising energy costs and potentially slowing supply chains will take their toll on consumers. Russian cyberattacks could cripple electronic infrastructure. A new refugee crisis will require international assistance. And an era of relative calm in the West that has pervaded since the end of the Cold War might be coming to a close.
Reliance
In 2021, 38 percent of the natural gas used by the European Union came from Russia, according to Bruegel, a research organization.
If gas does stop flowing, importing countries would need to find other sources. Some of the difference would most likely be made up by bringing in more liquefied natural gas from sources around the globe.
Fuel
So the Ukraine crisis is not a war over resources, but it has many implications for resource use. Russia is effectively weaponising its dominance over European gas supply for political ends. Reducing reliance on Russian gas is an urgent necessity for the EU to reach net zero emissions, and would also diminish Putin’s political leverage over the EU.
Germany
Clearly one of the results of this attack will be greater solidarity and much more cooperation between the US and the EU.
Comment
It's an extremely harsh day. Had a hard time sleeping last night, and ordinarily I sleep like a rock. I woke up with the same feeling of sadness and distress as I had on election night in 2016. Besides the innocent loss of life that is unfolding as I write, the stability of the world's integrity is at stake. As you read through articles, you will no doubt stumble across one that references Putin threatening the world with nuclear weapons. Obviously he is a madman. Meanwhile our own madman and FOX News celebrate and toast Putin. It could not be more repulsive and jaw dropping.
Wars unfold in ways that are not foreseen. The weeks and months ahead will be filled with stunning surprises and somehow wiser minds must win out.
War
Early Thursday, just as President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia announced on television that he had decided “to carry out a special military operation” in Ukraine, explosions were reported across the country.
Blasts were heard in Kyiv, the capital; in Kharkiv, the second largest city; and in Kramatorsk in the region of Donetsk, one of two eastern Ukrainian territories claimed by Russia-backed separatists since 201
The Market On Thursday
Good morning. At 7:05 a.m. ET DOW futures are -753; the market will tank at the opening bell.
CNN: Global stocks plunge as Russia attacks Ukraine By Laura He
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Innocent
It's an ugly evening knowing that innocent ordinary people in Ukraine, children, seniors, men and women are being terrorized and slaughtered at the whim of another madman. Meanwhile our own madman is raising glasses celebrating Putin's "genius". There's a lot more to this story that we do not know. Something is very wrong here.
Tintinnabulation - 'The Bells'
Tintinnabulation is the lingering sound of a ringing bell that occurs after the bell has been struck. This word was invented by Edgar Allan Poe as used in the first stanza of his poem "The Bells".
Hear the sledges with the bells—
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells—
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.
Unbelievable
“I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,” Vance said in a podcast interview.
A retired Army general, Barry R. McCaffrey, blasted those comments on Twitter. “JD Vance is a shameful person unsuitable for public office.
Resistance
“The Russian army has better weapons and technical equipment than us, so we may lose battles or campaigns. But they can never win the country if the Ukrainian people are motivated,” said Serhiy Kryvonos, a retired special forces general and former deputy secretary of the national security and defence council.
Mistake
Madeleine Albright creates a surprisingly long list of problems that Putin is taking on in invading Ukraine.
NY Times: Putin Is Making a Historic Mistake By Madeleine Albright
Such an act of aggression would almost certainly drive NATO to significantly reinforce its eastern flank and to consider permanently stationing forces in the Baltic States, Poland and Romania. (President Biden said Tuesday he was moving more troops to the Baltics.) And it would generate fierce Ukrainian armed resistance, with strong support from the West.
The Market On Wednesday
Good morning. At 6:55 a.m. ET DOW future are +155; the market is poised to open significantly higher.
CNN: Global markets rebound as West punishes Russia with 'modest' sanctions By Laura He
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Postwar
Washington Post: Opinion: This is the way the postwar world ends By Editorial Board
His true reason for targeting Ukraine is not Russian national security but to preserve his own power in Moscow, which would be threatened by a successful democratic experiment in a former Soviet republic of Ukraine’s size and cultural importance.
Response
NY Times: A Pointed Response to Putin’s Provocations By The Editorial Board
Yet over his many years in the Kremlin, Mr. Putin seemed to nurture an ever stronger grievance over Russia’s, and his own, treatment in the West. And at some point last year, with his personal power effectively secured for the rest of his life, with the United States bitterly divided and seemingly tired of foreign wars, with NATO seemingly at odds, Mr. Putin evidently decided it was time to spread his rule over territories he convinced himself belonged to Russia.
The Market On Tuesday
Good morning. At 6:10 a.m. ET DOW futures are -82; the market is poised to open significantly lower.
CNN: Putin is putting on a show, and he has a stranglehold on Russian media By Brian Stelter
Monday, February 21, 2022
Kracked
This is an attempt by this woman to get Trump supporters to send her money. It's a fund raising scam and it's another outrageous vulgar lie. She is claiming the rioters were at the Capitol and then police fired tear gas at them to force them into the Capitol. Can you believe it. She wants to blame the police for activating her poor innocent rioters. I truly hope she ends up in jail.
Brink
Sure looks like this Russia-Ukraine war is right on the brink of happening full tilt. I must admit, I did not have war in mind at the start of 2022. It's truly miserable and what's worse is that a significant part of the GOP supports Putin. Could we be entering into some kind of global re-alignment as the GOP is hellbent on copying the totalitarian playbook.
BA.2
NPR: More contagious version of omicron spreads in U.S., fueling worries By Rob Stein
The virus, known as BA.2, is a strain of the highly contagious omicron variant that appears to spread even more easily — about 30% more easily.
Because BA.2 quickly overtook the original omicron in South Africa and other countries and has even caused a second omicron surge in Denmark, researchers have been bracing for the same thing to happen in the U.S.
"A lot of us were assuming that it was going to quickly take off in the United States just like it was doing in Europe and become the new dominant variant," says Nathan Grubaugh, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health.
Buffalo
In the two years since the Rosebud Sioux tribe started collecting the animals on the 28,000-acre range in the South Dakota hills, the herd has swelled to 750 bison. The tribe plans to reach its goal of 1,200 within the year.
Work To Do
Washington Post: Opinion: Washington, Lincoln and the work they left behind By E.J. Dionne Jr.
We are struggling with how to tell our national story and how to teach it in schools. At stake is squaring our self-understanding as a beacon of liberty with the undeniable historical facts of slavery, racism and racial subjugation.
Threats
...more than 20 historically Black colleges and universities have received bomb threats in the last three weeks. White supremacists in the South — and far beyond the South — have been targeting Black schools and churches since these institutions were first founded.
The Market Is Closed
Good morning. Markets are closed for the holiday.
CNN: Here's what workers really want from their employers By Jeanne Sahadi
