[Breitbart] "Kindergartners are natural social justice warriors," one trainer told teachers.
Private schools across the country are implementing radical leftist curricula as the nation's leading private school accreditation association has been training teachers through lectures such as "Decolonizing the Minds of Second Graders" and "The White People Way," as shown on footage obtained by Breitbart News.
More than 1,600 private schools nationwide receive accreditation through the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), which also provides training conferences for teachers at member schools.
"The principal professional development conference hosted by NAIS for teachers, The People of Color Conference, was started by 'Educational Diversity/Equity Consultant' and former NAIS Director of Diversity Randolph Carter, who is a self-described Black Panther," Breitbart reported.
Carter is the founder of East Ed, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, according to his LinkedIn. The East Ed's now-defunct website describes him as a "member of the Black Panther Party."
Carter's biography on the East Ed website states that "while at the National Association of Independent Schools, he directed their equity programming and founded two of their signature projects: People of Color Conference and Student Diversity Leadership Conference."
While Carter is no longer at NAIS, he still participates in the People of Color Conference.
In December 2021, a conference session to train NAIS teachers focused on social justice in kindergarten.
"Kindergartners are natural social justice warriors," trainer Traci Allen told teachers, as shown on video obtained by Breitbart.
"And I think if we just build upon the mindset of the kindergartner, that is fantastic, you can get them to do fabulous things in the social justice realm," she said.
In "Decolonizing the Minds of Second Graders," another lecture at the December People of Color Conference, one trainer discusses how she wore a gas mask, goggles and a bulletproof vest as she protested George Floyd's death in Portland.
"It's an ongoing system of power that perpetuates the genocide and repression of indigenous peoples and cultures," the lecturer said in the video from Breitbart. "And so, we are settler colonialists, right? We perpetuate that unless we are indigenous to the land that we are on."
Another session at that conference featured a slide with the title "Burn Sh** down" as a lecturer who identifies as a vice principal tells teachers to "[recognize] when systems are broken and [imagine] something new."
In another talk, titled "The White People Way," a lecturer spoke about critical race theory (CRT) and "white tears."
"In order to recognize that you are experiencing the 'White People Way' pitfall, you can look for signs of white supremacy culture; so seeing things like a focus on perfectionism, a focus on power hoarding, not being willing to share, and a focus on product," she told teachers in the video obtained by Breitbart. "Additionally, you may hear comments about, 'Oh, we need to meet people where they are,' rather than pushing the work further. You may see literal white tears and that can be a tool to disrupt the work. You may also see policing of language and tone, or arguments about semantics — and we are seeing this I think, really strongly nationally with the backlash around CRT, we've seen it with white privilege and with a variety of other terms — arguing about those terms prevents us from moving forward on the work."
Private schools accredited by NAIS are now implementing radical curricula.
"Fourth Grade Black Panther Studies" is now being taught in St. Paul's Episcopal School in Oakland, Calif., according to the school's website.
Breitbart obtained a copy of an "Anti-Discrimination Pledge" from Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Ga.
"On my honor I commit to confronting racism and discrimination by working with my peers and teachers to help create a safe, supportive and respectful environment for everyone," the pledge states, adding: "Along with my community, I will participate in personal education that equips me with the skills to be anti-racist and that empowers this community to be inclusive to all of its members."
Breitbart News obtained the material from "Undercover Mother," which describes itself as a "Mom Collective with children in independent school."
"We circle our young to protect them from the abuse being inflicted by schools and the cartels of the regional and National Association of Independent Schools," the group states.
#4
We'll have to keep the teaming inner city ghettos pacified for a while. Perhaps fentanyl sales and distribution will do it. Migrants from Latin America can mule it up. Law enforcement and the judicial systems can be instructed to ignore them.
Perhaps this will assist the Chinese economy and convince the globalists that we're serious about the environment.
#6
Yes I read it here at Rantburg first. It's just vile. I can understand the angst of a cultural sub-group against their exploitation to a point. But when that sub-group cannot forgive and forget and needs revenge on a racial level to the point of vileness. Then it means the stereotype is true and the sub-group never deserved any leniency or human treatment in the first place. Or maybe it's to do with the nation of Islam contagion that got into the black power movement early and turned so many black americans against christian America. I'll wager that conservative Christian blacks are all Pro Trump and anti-Democrat and un-woke. Decent, hardworking, classical liberal families who want nothing to do with these BLM worshiping Afro-Marxists.
#7
"Westminster is a Christian, independent day school, which seeks to serve students who are bright, motivated, curious, and nurtured by challenge in an environment that develops leaders of conscience who will be a positive force in the world.
School Profile
Location: Atlanta, GA
Tuition: $36,000
College Matriculations, 2017-2021:
- Ivy League + Stanford, Duke, MIT, UChicago: 164 total (out of 890 students)
Posted by: Otto Bourbon2548 ||
03/18/2022 3:08 Comments ||
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#8
^ It's the poorest schools and the elite schools that are the biggest pushers of the woke nonsense
[HotAir] And apparently at least one judge agrees that these students, allegedly the top law students in the country, have crossed a line. DC Circuit Judge Laurence Silberman sent an email to every federal judge in the country suggesting that students involved in last week’s Yale protest might not be suitable candidates for clerkships.
The latest events at Yale Law School, in which students attempted to shout down speakers participating in a panel discussion on free speech, prompt me to suggest that students who are identified as those willing to disrupt any such panel discussion should be noted. All federal judges—and all federal judges are presumably committed to free speech—should carefully consider whether any student so identified should be disqualified from potential clerkships.
#14
The latest events at Yale Law School, in which students attempted to shout down speakers participating in a panel discussion on free speech, prompt me to suggest that students who are identified as those willing to disrupt any such panel discussion should be noted. All federal judges—and all federal judges are presumably committed to free speech—should carefully consider whether any student so identified should be disqualified from potential clerkships.
#15
All conservative speakers should bring a bullhorn to each conference. Make the shouters have to sustain an effort. The lefty cardio is probably not up to it. Too much vaping.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/18/2022 14:30 Comments ||
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#16
Or maybe it's to do with the nation of Islam contagion that got into the black power movement early and turned so many black americans against christian America.
They were pretty much simultaneous over a century ago, Cthulhu of Ryleh. See Wikipedia on the Moorish Science Temple movement, of which the Nation of Islam is one of several spin-offs. Also search Rantburg for Washitaw Nation, Indigenous Moors, Moorish sovereign citizen movement, etc. They are not proper Muslims, and not even heretics, since they were not Muslims to begin with.
[RealClearDefense] Putin's Offensive in Ukraine Presages the End of "Hybrid Conflict" as a Distinct Analytical Term. What Comes Next Will Be Far More Brutal.
For years, so-called "hybrid war" has bedeviled Western planners and military theorists. The concept of grey-zone or below-threshold conflict saturated American planning assumptions for around a decade, whether against Russia, Iran, or China. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, however, demonstrates that "hybridity" did not transform the character of war, and kinetic force retains its primacy. Whether Putin succeeds or fails in his Ukrainian gamble, Western statesmen would benefit by taking note: China’s most logical actions against Taiwan mirror Russia’s in Ukraine.
Russia's hybrid campaign in Ukraine began with its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Its "Little Green men," unmarked Russian special operations forces, deployed to Crimea in February. They encountered almost no resistance due to the poor state of Ukrainian political authorities, Russia's long-standing presence on the peninsula and Ukrainian pre-2014 military incapacity. Ukrainian soldiers based in Crimea defected en masse, particularly from naval units. When faced with the choice between better pay and remaining with their families under Russian rule, or worse pay and separation from their loved ones, they naturally selected the former option. Russia's operation in Donbas was more aggressive. Initially supporting local militias, Russia gradually shored up its involvement, ultimately deploying Russian units to preserve the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples Republics.
Continued on Page 49
Think the Europeans will need to get by without Russian crude? You are 100% correct. But you are not thinking anywhere near big enough.
Most of Russia’s oil fields are both old and extraordinarily remote from Russia’s customers. Fields in the North Caucasus are either tapped out or were never refurbished in the aftermath of the Chechen Wars, those of Russia’s Tatarstan and Bashkortostan provinces are well past their peak, and even western Siberian fields have been showing diminishing returns since the 2000s. With few exceptions, Russia’s oil discoveries of the last decade or three are deeper, smaller, more technically challenging, and even farther from population centers than the older fields they would be expected to replace. Russian output isn’t in danger of collapsing, but maintaining output will require more infrastructure, far higher up-front costs, and ongoing technical love and care to prevent steady output declines from becoming something far worse.
While the Russians are no slouches when it comes to oil field knowledge, they were out of circulation from roughly 1940 through 2000. Oil technology came a long way in those sixty years. Foreign firms—most notably supermajors BP and Shell, and services firms Halliburton and Schlumberger—have collectively done work that is probably responsible for half of Russia’s contemporary output.
The Western supermajors have left. All of them. Just as the Ukraine War began, Exxon and BP and Shell have walked away from projects they’ve sunk tens of billions of dollars into, knowing full well they won’t get a cent of compensation. Halliburton and Schlumberger’s operations today are a shadow of what they were before Russia’s previous invasion of Ukraine in 2014. Between future sanctions or the inability of the Russians to pay them with hard currency, those operations now risk winding down to zero. The result is as inevitable as it is damning: at least a 50% reduction in the ability of Russia to produce crude. (No. Chinese oilmen cannot hope to keep things flowing. The Chinese are worse in this space than the Russians.) The outstanding question is how soon?
Sooner than you think. It’s an issue of infrastructure and climate.
First, infrastructure. All of Russia’s oil flows first travel by pipe—in some cases for literally thousands of miles—before they reach either a customer or a discharge port. Pipes can’t . . . dodge. Anything that impedes a single inch of a pipe shuts the whole thing down. In the post-Cold War globalized Order when we all got along, this was something we could sing-song-skip right by. But with the Russians dropping cluster bombs on civilian targets — as they started doing on Feb 28 — not so much. Whether the Russians destroy the pipes with their indiscriminate use of ordinance (like they damaged a radiation containment vessel at Chernobyl!!!) or Ukrainian partisans target anything that brings the Russians income, much of this system is doomed.
Second, climate. Siberia, despite getting cold enough to literally freeze your nose off in October, doesn’t get cold enough. Most Russian oil production is in the permafrost, and for most of the summer the permafrost is inaccessible because its top layer melts into a messy, horizon-spanning swamp. What the Russians do is wait for the land to freeze, and then build dike-roads and drill for crude in the long dark of the Siberian winter. Should something happen to consumption of Russian crude oil or any of the millions of feet of pipe that take that crude from wellhead to port or consumer, flows would back up through the literally thousands of miles of pipes right up to the drill site. There is no place to store the stuff. Russia would just need to shut everything down. Turning it back on would require manually checking everything, all the way from well to border.
The last time this happened was the Soviet collapse in 1989. It took millions of manhours of help from the likes of BP and Halliburton — and thirty-two years — for Russia to get back to its Cold War production levels. And now, with war on in Ukraine, insurance companies are cancelling policies for tankers carrying anything Russian on Seas Black and Baltic while the French seize Russian vessels, and the Russian Central Bank under the strictest financial sanctions ever, it is all falling apart. Again.
Even in the sunshine and unicorn scenario that Putin duct tapes himself to a lawn chair and throws himself into a pool, and a random band of kindly kindergarten teachers take over the Russian government, we should not expect the energy supply situation in Russia to begin to stabilize before 2028, and for us to return to what we think of as the status quo before 2045.
In the meantime, the debate of the moment is expanded energy sanctions. Once everyone concludes that Russian crude is going away regardless, there’s something to be said about pre-emptively sanctioning Russian energy before reality forces the same end result. Moral high road and all that. Bottom line: Uuuuugh! The disappearance of some four to five million Russian barrels of daily crude production will all by itself kick energy prices up to at least $170 a barrel. A global energy-induced depression is in the wind.
But probably not an American one. In the bad ol’ days before World War II there wasn’t a "global" oil price. Each major country or empire controlled its own production and maintained its own — sequestered — market. Courtesy of the American shale revolution and preexisting legislation, the U.S. president has the authority to end American oil exports on a whim and return us to that world. An American export ban would flood U.S. refiners with relatively cheap shale oil. Those refiners will certainly bitch — their facilities have a taste for crude grades different from what comes out of Texas and North Dakota — but having a functional price ceiling within the United States of roughly $70 a barrel will achieve precisely what Joe Biden is after: cheaper gasoline prices.
The rest of the world? They’ll have to grapple with losing Russian and American crude at the same time. If the "global" price stays below $200, I’d be shocked.
The first rule of geopolitics is place matters. To populations. To transport. To finance. To agriculture. To energy. To everything. The second rule is things can always get worse. The world is about to (re)learn both lessons, good and hard.
#1
I think most of the Russian production will just be seamlessly rerouted into the Chinese network. And we'll be paying Vlad via our payments for our iPhones.
[Gateway] On Wednesday, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was touting a ’light at the end of the tunnel’ to the war in Ukraine (see Proposed ’Fifteen Point Peace Plan’ in Russia-Ukraine War Is a Total Defeat for Putin, but Zelensky Is Biding His Time), President Vladimir Putin gave a speech that did not indicate that he had any intention of settling for less than total victory in Ukraine and signaled a crackdown on elements of his own society.
The first part of the speech repeats his litany of complaints about Ukraine, the hardships imposed on the people of Donetsk and Luhansk (he never mentions that their hardship is 100% self-inflicted by them entering into a state of insurrection, and he never mentions that Russia fomented that insurrection and bears primary responsibility for those hardships), and the indignities suffered by Noble Russia at the hands of NATO and their stooges in Ukraine.
[RadioFreeEuropeRadioLiberty] According to conservative estimates, Russia has lost more troops in three weeks of war in Ukraine than the United States did in more than 20 years in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.
U.S. and British defense officials say more than 7,000 Russian soldiers have been killed so far. The figure is considered on the low end of the casualty count, with the Ukrainian Defense Ministry saying its forces have killed more than 14,000. Moscow has only issued an official casualty number once, on March 2, when it said 498 soldiers had been killed. The Russian Defense Ministry has not issued an estimate since.
Putting together a casualty figure is inexact and relies on combing through satellite images and videos of battles, U.S. officials and independent analysts say, which is reflected in the large range of estimates in Ukraine.
While the overall figures may be imprecise, it is becoming clearer that Russia is facing major setbacks in its war effort, with growing reports of low morale, defections, and mounting logistical complications.
Despite these problems, Russia’s military campaign makes sporadic, minor progress in some parts of Ukraine as the war enters a decisive stage for both sides.
To find out more about what to expect, RFE/RL spoke with Russian military expert Michael Kofman, who heads the Russia Studies Program at the Virginia-based think tank CNA.
#3
Am I just missing it or does Rand Paul's usually keen and outspoken opposition to foreign entanglements by the US currently seem to be on hiatus?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/18/2022 11:02 Comments ||
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#4
All of Washington is hysterically in favor of war with Russia: huge profits for the MIC, speculators and Ukraine's "influencers" in DC, right wingers get to posture and look tough, left wingers get to shake their little fists at the scourge of LGBTQ+ people, journalists get ready-made copy. No one in Washington dares to go against the tide
#5
Putting together a casualty figure is inexact and relies on combing through satellite images and videos of battles, U.S. officials and independent analysts say
"So this is what we do. We sit in a circle and everybody puts his hand up the next guy's ass. We pull out a number and if the number repeats even once, that's it. There's a whole science to it."
#7
^ 87.25% of Internet posts studies are factually based
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/18/2022 13:59 Comments ||
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#8
#4 All of Washington is hysterically in favor of war with Russia: huge profits for the MIC, speculators and Ukraine's "influencers" in DC, right wingers get to posture and look tough, left wingers get to shake their little fists at the scourge of LGBTQ+ people, journalists get ready-made copy. No one in Washington dares to go against the tide
Then all they had to do was transfer the Polish Migs to Ukraine and let her rip. They didn't.
#10
They didn't want their fingerprints on it. When Duda said, "Fine, we send them to a US Base and The USA can do what they like." is when it fell apart, and would account for the very uncomfortable Harris, who is not very good in friendly circumstances.
I think Duda lied about no US contacts only reporter questions to help de-escalate the situation. The reporter questions were there obviously to bully and create expectation.
And the propaganda machine is still calling for Defensive Flight Containment or some such shit the Fox guy was peddling after the (awful) Zelensky plea.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin.
[ColonelCassad] 1. Mariupol. The cleansing of the city continues successfully. The advanced units reach the central regions, the enemy is gradually pushed back to Azovstal. The exit of civilians continues from the city. The military on the ground are talking about the timeframe for the liberation of Mariupol - four to seven days.
2. Ugledar. The settlement has not yet been officially taken, but to the north of it the troops are already advancing towards Bogoyavlenka, with a subsequent movement towards Kurakhovo. Prechistovka was taken from the west of Ugledar, which creates the prerequisites both for moving north and for a turn to Velikaya Novoselka.
3. Maryinka-Avdeevka. There are no major advances yet. It is impossible to overcome the powerful fortified areas of the enemy from a swoop. Aviation and artillery are trying to make the task easier, but so far the cumulative effect of multi-day strikes has not yet been achieved.
4. Gorlovka. Novotoretskoye remained with the DPR. Counterattacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the aim of returning the village were repulsed. Tomorrow, perhaps, advancement will begin either towards Novoselka-2, or in the direction of New York.
5. LPR. They took Rubizhne, the enemy withdrew to Severodonetsk, where stubborn street fighting continues. Lisichansk is not yet actively stormed. The liberation of these cities is a matter of time. Fighting continues in the western part of Popasna, the city is not yet completely controlled by the LPR, the enemy stubbornly clings to it.
6. Kharkov. Active fighting east of the city. There is no information confirming the occupation of even part of Chuguev by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In Izyum, the enemy continues to defend in the southern part of the city and is trying to unblock the road in the Kamenka area, where fighting is taking place near the Izyum-Slavyansk highway. The front from the north is gradually shifting towards Slavyansk.
7. Kyiv. Attempts by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to be active on the Vyshgorod-Gostomel-Bucha line ended in serious losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in people and equipment. There was no serious counteroffensive. It is noted that the western grouping of the RF Armed Forces continues to methodically put pressure on the south, trying to get out and gain a foothold in the Vasilkov area. In the east, Ukrainian sources report that the RF Armed Forces have occupied several villages on the outskirts of Brovary. From our side, there is no confirmation of this yet.
8. Sumy and Chernigov. No major changes.
9. Nikolaev. Fighting north of the city. The city itself is blocked from three sides, but there is no assault. The transfer of reinforcements for the RF Armed Forces through Kherson is noted. The Armed Forces of Ukraine expect the activation of operations of the RF Armed Forces in this area in the coming days.
10. Odessa. Ships of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation work on targets on the coast, complementing the work of aviation. Landing events are not carried out, but the enemy is forced to keep serious forces here, fearing to miss the moment of the exhibition. The Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, having won complete dominance at sea, is now playing a fettering role, forcing the enemy to keep troops near Odessa that would be useful in the area of Nikolaev or Krivoy Rog.
#1
It used to be Diddy Wah Diddy.
"Damn tootin'," says Joe. "Hero City!"
But for Russians disputin'
That Putin is shootin',
Today it's a town without pity.
[FoxNews] Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger essentially predicted the current situation that led to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a chilling op-ed published eight years ago.
Kissinger penned an op-ed in the Washington Post on March 5, 2014 headlined, "To settle the Ukraine crisis, start at the end," which detailed much of what has unfolded as Russia’s attack continues.
"Public discussion on Ukraine is all about confrontation. But do we know where we are going? In my life, I have seen four wars begun with great enthusiasm and public support, all of which we did not know how to end and from three of which we withdrew unilaterally. The test of policy is how it ends, not how it begins," Kissinger wrote.
"Far too often the Ukrainian issue is posed as a showdown: whether Ukraine joins the East or the West. But if Ukraine is to survive and thrive, it must not be either side’s outpost against the other — it should function as a bridge between them," he continued. "Russia must accept that to try to force Ukraine into a satellite status, and thereby move Russia’s borders again, would doom Moscow to repeat its history of self-fulfilling cycles of reciprocal pressures with Europe and the United States."
The eight-year-old piece detailed why many Russians historically feel that Ukraine would never be seen as an independent country.
"The West must understand that, to Russia, Ukraine can never be just a foreign country. Russian history began in what was called Kievan-Rus. The Russian religion spread from there. Ukraine has been part of Russia for centuries, and their histories were intertwined before then. Some of the most important battles for Russian freedom, starting with the Battle of Polyvana in 1709, we fought on Ukrainian soil," Kissinger who was secretary of state from 1973 to 1977, continued.
Kissinger explained why priorities needed to be established in order for Ukraine to thrive.
"Even such famed dissidents as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Joseph Brodsky insisted that Ukraine was an integral part of Russian history and, indeed, of Russia," he wrote. "The European Union must recognize that its bureaucratic dilatoriness and subordination of the strategic element to domestic politics in negotiating Ukraine’s relationship to Europe contributed to turning a negotiation into a crisis. Foreign policy is the art of establishing priorities."
Kissinger called Ukrainians "the decisive element" because they live in a country with a deep history and a "polyglot composition," noting the Western part of the nation was "incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1939, when Stalin and Hitler divided up the spoils" but the largely Russian section of Crimea didn’t become part of Ukraine until 1954.
"The west is largely Catholic; the east largely Russian Orthodox. The west speaks Ukrainian; the east speaks mostly Russian. Any attempt by one wing of Ukraine to dominate the other — as has been the pattern — would lead eventually to civil war or break up. To treat Ukraine as part of an East-West confrontation would scuttle for decades any prospect to bring Russia and the West — especially Russia and Europe — into a cooperative international system," Kissinger wrote.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/18/2022 0:49 Comments ||
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#2
"In my life, I have seen four wars begun with great enthusiasm and public support, all of which we did not know how to end and from three of which we withdrew unilaterally."
#1
Whisper... Whisper...Whisper ... Whisper... Wasn't Taiwan (ROC) one of the players at that Southern Flash Event in Carter's Time South of South Africa? Like South Africa, Israel and Taiwan? Wink Wink...
#2
Others are looking on as well. Japan, South Korea, India, all reminded me of the domino's dropping. Many nations perceive Biden and western nations as being very weak. We now have a united nation Asian powerhouse developing. Even Latin America is no longer a part of Western consideration. The African Arab world will go to the strong as well. Times are changing fast and with Biden democrat's they go for the money not country.
#3
We now have a united nation Asian powerhouse developing
India is not siding, won't side with the West. India more than China or any other nation will help Russia get around the sanctions. Other nonaligned nations will follow India's lead in busting the sanctions
#4
#1 Whisper... Whisper...Whisper ... Whisper... Wasn't Taiwan (ROC) one of the players at that Southern Flash Event in Carter's Time South of South Africa? Like South Africa, Israel and Taiwan? Wink Wink...
Posted by: 3dc 2022-03-18 03:53
3dc,
For some decades now Taiwan has been considered to be a 'breakout' nuclear power - that is, they don't have any assembled bombs or warheads...but they have components here and parts there and materials back that way that when assembled produce a functional device.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/18/2022 9:34 Comments ||
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#5
^ One of the lessons of Ukraine is: Get yourself some nukes and don't give 'em up no matter what anybody tells you, especially the US. "Nuclear non-proliferation" is now a quaint concept. We live in interesting times.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/18/2022 11:55 Comments ||
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#6
Another lesson of Ukraine is give high paying jobs to the children of American politicians and they'll push to defend you even at the risk of global armageddon.
[American Thinker] A concatenation of events is dropping on us like an imploding building and there’s not much we can do to stop it. However, we can mitigate some of the potential damage through our individual efforts and need to get started now.
But first, one bit of good news. H. Douglas Lightfoot and Gerald Ratzer have published a paper, "The Sun Versus CO2 as the Cause of Climate Change Projected to 2050," that thrashes the IPCC’s global warming model.
However, the paper also kicks off this food shortage discussion. The authors say the earth "is now in the early stages of cooling that might be similar to the Dalton Minimum and last for three or four decades. Average temperatures can drop by up to 1.5 degrees C and increase the rate of crop failures that have already started. It won’t be easy to maintain the benefits of the recent warm phase of the Sun during the upcoming solar minimum." That’s 2.7 degrees F, and significant.
Lightfoot and Ratzer confirm that we’ve already entered the Modern Grand Solar Minimum (GSM) and that negative impacts on crops are already occurring. We’ve seen harvest shortfalls in a variety of crops around the world over the past couple of seasons. Coupled with these shortfalls, a few countries have limited or halted exports of staple products, mostly grains and legumes.
For two years and continuing until today, there have been interruptions in commodities for sale. A number of factors contribute to this stuttering availability of commercial goods. Labor shortages in picking, packing, processing, and transportation led to gaps on some grocery shelves. Delayed imports of raw materials for canning, bottling, and bagging due to shutdowns in countries of origin will likely continue, especially now that China is locking down whole cities again.
Because of recent crop failures and lackluster harvests, many regional grocery warehouses, which usually have about 18 months’ worth of packaged and frozen food in stock, are practically empty according to a friend whose family owns a large chain of stores. Low stocks of livestock feed and hay due to drought are reducing meat, poultry, milk, and egg production in some areas.
Monica Showalter’s excellent article the other day—Biden is about to get caught flat-footed on another crisis: Ukraine war—generated global food shortages— examines the impact that Russia’s war on Ukraine is having and is expected to have on global grain and fertilizer availability, as well as food production.
Besides the drought hitting the mid-plains and potentially causing the abandonment of this year’s winter wheat (that’s for flour) crop, the La Niña system is expected to bring above-average rains to the eastern and southeastern parts of the US, potentially delaying planting and harvest. If California continues to value a practically nonexistent smelt over its people, there will be little water for the Sacramento-area rice farmers. They’ve already pulled down avocado and almond orchards due to restricted water allocations elsewhere in the state.
Farmers are being hit hard by shortages and skyrocketing inflation, just like the rest of us. Anhydrous ammonia, used to fertilize most grain and many row crops, has had a massive jump in price from $487 per ton in 2020, to $746 in 2021, to a record-breaking $1,492 per ton the first week of February this year. Demand for fertilizer is expected to grow, but high prices in Europe for natural gas (from which the fertilizer is made) caused a slowdown in manufacturing last winter.
#2
"A concatenation of events is dropping on us like an imploding building and there’s not much we can do to stop it."
Not events but deliberate policies. The sanctions are causing fertilizer and food shortages already and need to be stopped
#3
For you gardeners out there, here are some cheap alternatives to store bought fertilizers for your flowers and veggies. Way better than buying bags at Home Depot. Time to resurrect the Victory Garden concept.
#6
Good to see these ideas presented. Seeing a garden in sandy area I asked owner to show me. He pulled a six inch carrot out of the soil with ease. No digging. Why? Soil is so sandy he had to add sawdust to hold moisture. I did the same in my patch by adding coffee grounds and several bags of sand. Lose soil helps roots to grow and soil is spongy not compacted as was previously with clay soil. Cinders from coal ash does the same and blackens the soil and crops do marvelously well. Worms love these light soils as well.
While documenting large price increases and hidden reduced package size adjustments. I have been also noting and taking Cell Ph. pic's of empty food shelves and freezers in too many Big Box stores.
I am also finding more and more items on shelves with closely approaching Best By or Use By dates. While strangely, I have the same item already home with further out dates?
But either way, we have seen various item shortages since the start of the Pandemic (TP, Masks, Hand cleaners and etc.) Now stores cannot get rid of their stock of these even with drastic price cuts.
HOWEVER FOOD
Was not a major problem for our neck of the woods until around early Aug./Sept. of 2021. Then we started noticing longer outages of more and more items with large price increases when found in stock.
BTW: From the "SEEING IS BELIEVING" world versus media hype.
The Pepsico owned & WOKEN Pearl Milling Company brand is in plentiful supply????
Either they have ramped up extra production, or a lot of consumers are avoiding it because of the way they played Political WOKE with the people that once purchased their products.
#9
If you know anyone with livestock, especially horses, they owners are very happy to have you come help muck out stalls in return for manure. It's great fertilizer.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/18/2022 9:11 Comments ||
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#10
am also finding more and more items on shelves with closely approaching Best By or Use By dates. While strangely, I have the same item already home with further out dates?
Hypothesis: In the past wholesale warehouses culled product that was close to expiration or Best By date, eating the loss, selling to dollar stores, or donating to nearby food banks. But now that supply is so tight, they’re selling that stock to retailers, giving the supply chain a little breathing room.
#11
There would have been continual food distribution problems this year regardless due to the same issues we had late last year.
This is new and above with this war. Fertilizer will either be very pricy or just not available, wheat from Russia and Ukraine that normally goes to the middle east will be in very short supply, energy disruption will cause transport costs to go up for everything and China will continue to hoover up all the food it can to rebuild its swine herd and feed its people as it has a food shortage from the floods last year.
Global famine for most 3rd world countries that import their food is guaranteed with much higher costs everywhere else.
#12
Food sovereignty must be a real consideration for the US. We have been a source of food for much fo the world and have been blessed with such abundance that it has ceased to even be a thought in public policy. That attitude must end. The Chinese are deep in farmland ownership as well as food processing and production (Smithfield for example) and that kind of acquisition must stop. Consider the OPEC model and the power it provides, as well as our moral obligation to our fellow citizens and our children.
#13
Well, obesity is sorta hard to hide. Treat overeaters like Liewatha's profiteering hoarder corporate swine and the food situation improves immediately.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/18/2022 13:21 Comments ||
Top||
#14
That attitude must end. The Chinese are deep in farmland ownership as well as food processing and production (Smithfield for example) and that kind of acquisition must stop.
I would agree. The food supply must be seen as a strategic resource. We need to keep it stable as the US withdraws from being the world police.
Posted by: Snonter Flaper6719 ||
03/18/2022 08:30 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
This is true
"Washington’s loud championing of the Ukrainian cause has recently been accompanied by contrary signs of weakness and appeasement, from the humiliating botch of the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer to President Biden’s hint that a “minor incursion” into Ukraine might not occasion a decisive response. Like Chamberlain veering between irrational extremes in 1938-1939, the West’s Ukraine policy has blatantly provoked Russian anxieties and offered Ukrainians the false promise of an American security umbrella, while doing nowhere near enough to actually deter Russia. Ukraine may not suffer as badly as Poland did from 1939 to 1945, but much of the country has already gotten wrecked."
#2
This says it all. Biden and the West did nothing to deter Russia and did everything to provoke Russia. The Ukrainians like the Poles in 1939-45 get to pay the price for Western failure
Posted by: Ulack Darling of the Texans4023 ||
03/18/2022 10:34 Comments ||
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#3
Putin was following the pathway pioneered by Hitler in 1938-9.
Hitler convinced Chamberlain to give up his guarantees to Czechoslovakia in a conference at Munich in the Fall of 1938, and was allowed to taken over areas of that country that had German majorities. This alarmed Stalin, who worried that the Western powers could not be counted on to respect their international obligations.
Then in the Spring of 1939 Hitler took over the rest of Czechoslovakia, (with its large armament industry) with no real opposition, since the Czechs were defenseless after the first occupation.
This is what Putin expected to happen to Ukraine. It was supposed to consider its situation hopeless and accept Russian conquest.
Actually that occupation of Czechoslovakia, which grossly violated the Munich agreements, was greeted by Britain and France by mere talk, and this spooked Stalin completely and in response decided to make alliance with Hitler. His foreign ministry with that of Germany developed the plan to make war on Poland, and by so doing, started Wor;d War 2. Th USSR delayed its attack on Poland for two weeks for propaganda purposes, but documents show that the USSR was one of the countries that willfully started that horrible war.
(That it took part in the War Crimes trials in which Germans were punished both for war crimes and for starting the war, was part legitimate and part absurd.)
Hitler's success in Czechoslovakia and Poland at relatively little cost, boosted his popularity in Germany, and went to his head, causing him to decide to attack the USSR and the USA as well, in 1941.
Perhaps Putin is lucky that he has been bloodied in the early stages of his adventures.
[Breitbart] Great news for Joe Biden. After months of abysmal public approval numbers, President Biden’s favorability among registered voters has soared by 2 points to 45 percent! And all he had to do was bring us to the brink of World War III.
The media are thrilled with the possibility of nuclear war with Russia. Catastrophes are terrific for ratings, and flood-the-zone coverage of a war between two faraway countries that has almost zero effect on the lives of most Americans allows journalists to act like deep-think, geopolitical strategists (after having quickly looked up “Ukraine” on Wikipedia).
They dragged out the COVID panic porn for two straight years. By now, the only people still interested in pandemic updates are hysterical liberal women in Manhattan claiming to have “long-haul COVID.”
The national pastime has segued seamlessly from watching TV anchors cry on TV about the coronavirus to watching TV anchors cry on TV about the fate of Ukrainian children.
I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but the media’s obsessive focus on Ukraine is terrific for the interests of the Democratic Party. Recall that, in his 2012 book, Left Turn: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts the American Mind, then-UCLA professor Tim Groseclose demonstrated that media bias alone costs Republicans about 8 to 10 percentage points in elections.
And that was 2012. One can only imagine what it is in post-Trump 2022. If only we could return to the junior varsity media bias of 2012!
#2
Full mobilization immediately followed by election postponement.....the conflict could simmer on for several years. The Euro's will need petrol, tires, and ammo. The Chinese can print the ration books and stamps.
#3
I think again the media is overselling public support for US involvement and the dems internal polls are all over the place, so they are screwed no matter what they do. I think the only safe bet is that they will make the worst choices possible. If the GOPe does not manage to throw the election, they will take up where the current congress leaves off.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/17/2022 9:53 Comments ||
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#4
No gas guzzling autos made from 1941 thru 1945.....hmmmmm
#5
But, Besoeker, Bidin hates Tesla, SpaceX and Musk so they can't do quality electrics either.
He hates them because they don't do political contributions and Telsa isn't unionized so a Democrat United Auto Workers fleecing Union can't extract $ from them either.
#6
The conflict(OH I like using that word) is nearly done. Media here spews the usual propaganda. Same people who invested in Covid. The spigot has been turned off to the Democrat swamp critters. Soros, Kerry, DNC, Biden's, Hillary and so on. Now is the time to watch heads explode in DC. Putin finally has got his deep water southern port. The anaconda has and will slowly constrict its hold.
#7
Hedge funds are making fortunes now in Russian bonds. The war is total manipulation
Posted by: Marilyn Snons9932 ||
03/18/2022 9:33 Comments ||
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#8
Ref #5: That's the way I see it as well. The Biden crime family and this administration considers Musk a non-person, even though he employs some 50,000 people.
#10
I drove a Yugo once. It was more like a Won'tgo.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/18/2022 13:17 Comments ||
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#11
A Yugo is famous for being the only vehicle ever blown off the Mackinac Bridge. Due to its heavy battery, the electric Yugo promises to be more wind resistant.
#13
The notion that Joe Biden would actually assume the role of Commander-In-Chief in a possible nuclear war ought to be a sobering thought for people. So-called journalists who are beating the drums of war ought to start acting like adults and use their fu#king brains.
[BBC] Scientists say they have solved one of the biggest paradoxes in science first identified by Prof Stephen Hawking.
He highlighted that black holes behave in a way that puts two fundamental theories at odds with each other.
Black holes are dead stars that have collapsed and have such strong gravity that not even light can escape.
New research claims to have resolved the paradox by showing that black holes have a property which they call "quantum hair".
"The problem has been cracked!" Prof Xavier Calmet of the University of Sussex, told BBC News exclusively, with much satisfaction. He was among those who developed the mathematical techniques they say has solved the paradox.
At the heart of the paradox is a problem which has threatened to undermine two of physics most important theories. Einstein's general theory of relativity says information about what goes into a black hole cannot come out, but quantum mechanics says that is impossible.
[PJMedia] Old Joe Biden watched Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to Congress Wednesday and pronounced the Ukrainian president "convincing." Biden said that "Putin is inflicting appalling — appalling devastation and horror on Ukraine — bombing apartment buildings, maternity wards, hospitals. I mean, it’s — it’s God awful." As a result, "We are crippling Putin’s economy with punishing sanctions that’s going to only grow more painful over time with the entire NATO and EU behind us, and many other countries." The old man boasted that "the American people are answering President Zelenskyy’s call for more help, more weapons for Ukraine to defend itself, more tools to fight Russian aggression." Biden insisted that "it’s about freedom." It all sounded great, but he didn’t mention one key detail: his handlers’ new nuke deal with Iran will give Russia ten billion dollars. So who is paying for all that Russian aggression? A large chunk of this cash will be coming from you and me.
The Washington Free Beaconreported Wednesday that "Russia’s top state-controlled energy company," Rosatom, "is set to cash in on a $10 billion contract to build out one of Iran’s most contested nuclear sites as part of concessions granted in the soon-to-be-announced nuclear agreement that will guarantee sanctions on both countries are lifted."
Rosatom is set to work on the Bushehr nuclear plant in Tehran. According to the Free Beacon, "Russia and the Biden administration confirmed on Tuesday that the new nuclear agreement includes carveouts that will waive sanctions on both countries so that Russia can make good on this contract."
State Department Spokesman Ned Price tried to paint a happy face on this fiasco, claiming that "we, of course, would not sanction Russian participation in nuclear projects that are part of resuming full implementation of the JCPOA," that is, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Obama’s disastrous 2015 nuclear deal. Of course.
And so Russia will get ten billion dollars from Iran to spruce up one of its nuclear plants, and where will that money come from? Gabriel Noronha, a former State Department official, explained on March 7 that "Iran is set to get access to a massive windfall of cash: My latest estimate (derived from figures declassified during my tenure at the State Department) is $90 billion in access to foreign exchange reserves, and then a further $50-$55 billion in extra revenue each year from higher oil and petrochemical exports, with no restrictions on how or where the money can be spent. Personally, the most troubling transfer of funds will be the $7 billion ransom payment the United States is preparing to pay for the release of four Americans from an Iranian jail. Now, let me be clear: I would be extremely glad to bring these Americans back home safely as quickly as possible. They are innocent victims who, along with their families, have suffered unjustly for far too long. But make no mistake: Biden’s payment will only supercharge Iran’s hostage-taking industry."
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain ||
03/18/2022 09:58 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Total scam. Putin is getting everything he wanted. Ukraine is totally fucked for decades to come, and the EU and the US will be on the hook to pay for this basket case. The US is paying Russia for oil and to help Iran. Africa and the Middle East will keep paying for Russian arms and wheat. India is now going to accept rubles, the Saudis are shifting out of dollars and into the yuan, and China and Russia are closer than ever.
Total fail. The only explanation is that Biden and the other crooks are getting kickbacks from Putin's victory in Ukraine
#2
Bought and paid for, and aware that they cannot allow the proof of their crimes to see the light of day, which they know would happen if they resist. Nothing else explains how a government can act so utterly against both common sense, and the best interests of its citizens.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Zeihan] This newsletter is an adapted excerpt from Peter's upcoming book, 
Believing either one of them about anything, is well beyond the limits of good judgement and common sense. 
