All of the geopolitical deep weeds followers generally agree, if/when the U.S. triggers the first direct military strikes against Russian interests, what one might call the modern Archduke Ferdinand moment, it will likely take place in Moldova.
As a consequence, a very strategically weak and easily influenced Moldovan President, currently Maia Sandu, will be the manipulated leader who next puts her country in harm’s way.
Moldova has a significant population of pro-Russia citizens in the east, which makes the internal domestic dynamic a little strenuous to manage. It is very similar to Ukraine in that regard.
White House – President Joseph R. Biden Jr. met today with Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Warsaw. President Biden reaffirmed strong U.S. support for Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He highlighted ongoing US assistance to help Moldova strengthen its political and economic resilience, including its democratic reform agenda and energy security, and to address the effects of Russia’s war against Ukraine. (link)
Speaking today in Poland, amid carefully managed stage theatrics, lighting and dramatic entrance for emphasis, Joe Biden said:
…”I speak once more to the people of Russia. The United States and the nations of Europe do not seek to control or destroy Russia. The West was not planning to attack Russia as Putin said today, and millions of Russian citizens who only want to live in peace with their neighbors are not the enemy”…
Given the reality that every foreign policy statement from the people around Joe Biden carries the exact opposite in both intent and outcome, we should now prepare for the Biden administration, CIA and U.S. State Department to begin open offensive military action directly targeting Russia. Yes, this statement means it is time to start worrying.
I do not see anything on the horizon that will stop this continued dropping in existing home sales. Financial analysts keep expected a month-over-month uptick, which would indicate the floor of the housing market has been reached. However, that ‘uptick’ never happens, and each report shows the month-over-month number continuing negative, meaning the slope of the decline is continuing and no bottom is visible.
The gaslighting financial media keep using terms like “the pace of the decline is slowing” in an effort to continue supporting the policies that are ultimately contracting the entire economy. The reality is behind the phrase “transitioning to the new economy,” which, by the very nature of the approach, means this is a managed decline in overall economic activity.
The temperature on Fed stove is slowly being raised, so the frogs in the economic pot don’t notice it.
(Reuters) -U.S. existing home sales dropped to the lowest level in more than 12 years in January, but the pace of decline slowed, raising cautious optimism that the housing market slump could be close to reaching a bottom.
[…] Existing home sales fell 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.00 million units last month, the lowest level since October 2010, when the nation was grappling with the foreclosure crisis. That marked the 12th straight monthly decline in sales, the longest such stretch since 1999.
In his opening monologue Monday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson outlined the insufferable Ukraine narrative and the geopolitical consequences that will flow from the outcome of foreign policy.
Additionally, Carlson contrasts the difference in DC priority for financially assisting Ukraine while places like East Palestine, Ohio, suffer a catastrophic toxic chemical disaster. WATCH:
Matt Taibbi is a smart guy, he’ll get there. I’m not sure why my gut says to trust him, but it does – and I do. Recently he’s been getting hit by the leftists who are asking why Taibbi is not looking at the Trump administration pressure on social media to control and manipulate public information [Twitter Here].
Taibbi has been hitting back against his detractors by saying, there’s no evidence of Trump doing that; yet there is massive evidence of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) contacting Twitter to do exactly that.
This is interesting to me and CTH readers because we outlined in real time what the SSCI and HPSCI were doing in order to promote the Trump-Russia conspiracy before and after the 2016 election.
What’s fascinating about this… is that the same people who are attacking Taibbi right now, are the same people who received and promoted the propaganda from the SSCI (Burr and Warner) in addition to the HPSCI (Schiff and Swalwell).
In essence, the ancillary media attack hounds are attacking Taibbi because at the end of the research trail Taibbi is following he will find the same names of the ancillary media who are attacking him.
In my opinion, Taibbi is on the right trail in following the SSCI and HPSCI manipulation of the social media platforms, specifically Twitter. In addition to the SSCI creating the structure that supports the intelligence weaponization by DHS and FBI, Senate Intel Chair Richard Burr and then Senate Intel Vice-Chair Mark Warner are at the epicenter of it.
I’m not going to re-write anything. [SEE HERE] Instead, I’m just dropping this little video snippet into the discussion as a confirmational datapoint.
CNN journalist Alex Marquardt: “I’ve been here for the past five days. I have not heard any explosions. I have not heard any air sirens, until about half an hour ago, right when President Biden was in the center of Kyiv.“
The theatre and pantomime of Ukraine, as orchestrated by the White House & State Dept. and summed up in the phrase “World War Reddit,” continues. I will admit, the air raid sirens were a nice touch.
Joe Biden made a surprise trip into Kyiv, where the word “surprise” is intended to fall upon the eyes and ears of the American public, not the Ukrainian government or the Russians who were given advanced notice that Joe Biden was traveling to Kyiv to meet with President Zelenskyy.
The White House admits in their on-the-record briefing {Read Here} that Russia was informed of the trip prior to Biden’s departure from Washington DC. So, the New York Times framing of the transportation aspect, “after a trans-Atlantic flight to Poland, Mr. Biden crossed the border by train, traveling for nearly 10 hours to Kyiv, as other American officials have in recent months,” was clearly done as part of the theatre around the visit.
Additionally, as every media article about the visit includes (for additional “color” of the performance) air raid sirens were sounded as Joe Biden and President Zelenskyy stepped out into the streets. From the screenplay as written. I suggest reading in your best Richard Attenborough dramatic voice:
“Mr. Biden arrived early Monday morning to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the two stepped out into the streets of Kyiv even as an air-raid siren sounded, a dramatic moment that underscored the investment the United States has made in Ukraine’s independence.“
This video interview segment was sent to me today along with a “wow, you were right” message. Apparently, the interview took place a few weeks ago (it’s new to me), but the admissions within it are quite remarkable.
The CNBC discussion surrounds inflation and the federal reserve raising interest rates. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari is talking about the jobs report, inflation and the intention of the federal reserve to continue raising interest rates until they achieve 2% inflation, regardless of consequence. Kashkari doesn’t hedge on the latter issue of consequence; he affirms with absolute guarantee the fed will keep raising rates until the economy shrinks enough such that 2% inflation is achieved. However, watch what happens when Joe Kernan takes that outlook and overlays “supply side” energy policy. WATCH (10:22 prompted):
The issue is quite simple, really. When additional oil, coal and natural gas development is blocked as an outcome of policy, energy prices jump massively. We are seeing 2022/2023 price increases in electricity, home heating, fuel, gasoline, natural gas and other total energy price outcomes in the 60%+ range.
As a direct outcome of energy policy, all of the downstream products and services have massive upward supply side price pressure. When the input prices are driving upward of 60%, the downstream prices increase accordingly. Farming costs, fertilizer, feeding, transportation costs, food at retail and wholesale, and just about every petroleum-based product, which is almost everything, increases in price accordingly.
If supply side energy price increases are pushing +60%, and the Fed will only accept a 2% inflation output result, the only method of achieving the desired result is to shrink energy demand. This is the goal of the current Fed monetary policy. In this interview Kashkari admits the dynamic for the first time in public.
With a visit by Joe Biden coming up next week, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki discusses the status of the ongoing Ukraine conflict with Russia and the expectation of this being a long NATO supported fight.
Poland is in a weird place with their internal politics. Domestically, their population is not in alignment with the leftist, globalist approach. However, for the past two years -especially since the Russia/Ukraine conflict began – they appear to be walking a tightrope with U.S. policy, leaning favorably to the Biden administration.
It appears Poland is like many EU countries in the leadership disconnect from the mindset of the underlying population that grants them power, with NATO representing the corrupting influence in the disconnect. Then again, the same could be said for almost the entire western system of government, including the United States. Interesting dynamic to watch:
(Transcript) – MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to Face The Nation. President Biden heads to Poland this week, his second visit since Russia began its war in Ukraine. For more we go now to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Good morning to you.
POLISH PRIME MINISTER MATEUSZ MORAWIECKI: Good morning madam.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So President Biden will be visiting Warsaw, we know you’ve said President Zelenskyy will also be in Poland. What do you expect from these visits?
I missed this a few days ago; however, given the “official” narrative that East Palestine, Ohio, water and air are safe it seems rather contradictory for EPA Administrator Michael Regan to tell CNN’s Erica Hill two weeks later that things might not be safe for EPA officials.
I mean seriously, what the heck is the message here? And the state and federal officials wonder why the residents of the area would have concerns about being told everything is safe. In this soundbite (prompted to the question at 07:39) CNN’s Erica Hill speaks with EPA administrator Michael Regan and asks him if things are safe. The hedge and qualifiers are off the charts alarming. WATCH:
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Yikes. Never has “we are from the government, and here to help” seemed sketchier. Even the CNN lady doesn’t seem to be buying what EPA Administrator Regan is selling.
As a consequence, a very strategically weak and easily influenced Moldovan President, currently Maia Sandu, will be the manipulated leader who next puts her country in harm’s way.
