Do I know for a fact that the US did the deed—sabotaged both Nord Stream gas pipelines that run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany? No, but US fingerprints are all over this economic sabotage. Ask yourself: What other country on earth has the motive and the means to do this—and can also get away with it? Only the US, whether or not US personnel actually did it. In that regard I’m quite open to the possibility that UK and Polish personnel were involved in the sabotage near the Danish island of Bornholm—not far from the Polish coast:
Russia had every motive in the world to blow the pipeline since it would allow them to deny gas to Europe while pointing the fickle finger of blame at us. That said, I take no position on who did it, I acknowledge that in fact we may have done it, and I wish to add that I was nowhere near the Baltic when this happened and can prove it. All that said, nothing remains secret in Washington for long, so if in fact we did it, I do not expect the perps to be able to long hide their guilt.
The interesting thing here is that if we did it, then the regime is guilty of a grossly irresponsible act that will cost us dearly. If we did not do it, then the regime is still guilty of gross irresponsibility since they made public threats against the pipeline that no competent statesman would ever have made. Thus regardless of attribution, American foreign policy is a clown car. One wired with, as Keanu Reeves said in that movie "Enough Semtex to put a hole in the world"
I was excited about Meloni until I learned she was a Zelensky supporter. This is one of my acid tests of someone's political and moral views. I couldn't care less whether you support Russia or Ukraine--indeed I take the view it is unseemly for Americans to take sides in border wars between godless Soviets. But all of the Kyiv stans--excuse me, we won the Cold War, it's spelled Kiev--have made support for Ukraine the sin qua non for membership in all of the internationalist organizations. NATO, UN, IMF, World Bank, etc. You have to be a Zelensky Stan to expect to get cash from the "global community." You have to loudly proclaim that Putin is literally Hitler. Sorry--if you support Zelensky you are the 21st century Hitler apologist, the only question is why?
I think the guy in the ZeroHedge article does not frame the issue correctly. It is tunnel-visioned and sensationalistic to frame this as the evil Fed vs. the equities market. Too many people likely have this mindset because all they have ever known is close to zero interest rates and the concomitant financialization of the markets and of the economy that drove asset valuations ever higher over the last 15 years. What will ultimately limit the Fed and cause a pause if not a pivot in raising rates is IMO not how hard the markets crash but illiquidity in Treasuries (there is already disorder there) and credit facilities.
That said he is on point in citing the herd (sheep) mentality of the markets. The Fed will continue to raise rates and tighten as long as they still see a need to tame inflation - the sheep need to and will soon capitulate to this idea, thus contributing to a reset of equity valuations, along with inflation, decreased corporate earnings, and increased costs.
The guys in the linked via CTH Gooslby/Santori, Mulvaney interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-JiZmXnPeE&t=3s) frame the problem(s) a lot better. Goolsby and especially Mulvaney both correctly state that the Fed has made mistakes in the past and is now limited in what it can do (namely raise rates and tighten) and cannot bring inflation under control by themselves. They both note the need to address supply side issues such as energy and computer chips, etc. Spot on.
Just a couple points to consider. A) The depth of the Baltic averages around 155 feet..I think? Not sure the depth of the pipeline there, but if it is at 150-160 feet, its easily reached by Navy divers. Recreational divers certify to 60 feet, advanced to 130.
B) If the depths are more, it matters not: either way, Navy divers would have a decompresion chamber waiting on the ship (or sub?) for them.
The point being, even at 200-300 feet this sabotage could have been done by divers without a sub...but satellites would also have picked up surface ships, so theres that.
I think the Brits did it and made it look like it was the USA.
They had motive and financial gains to make. They are controlled directly by the Crown Corporation in the City of London and those buggers are never elected or even chosen. They inherit.
America’s incompetent foreign policy bureaucracy is doing everything in its power to blunder the U.S. into a full-scale war with Russia. Destroying the nation’s economy, manufacturing base, energy industry, and rule of law apparently wasn’t enough.
In response to Europe's energy crisis, Putin said on Sept. 17 that if Europe wants to solve the issue, it can ignore US orders and open up the Nord Steam 2 pipeline. "Just push the button and everything will get going," Putin said.
Tom Luongo is suggesting Russia did it. My understanding is that this could only have been accomplished via submarine--not "frogmen". That narrows the field. But Russia could cut off the gas any time it wants--righty tighty, lefty loosey. Why? Having the pipeline in place gives Russia leverage. False flag sabotage? Benefits are really, really speculative, IMO.
Tom Luongo (Powell's a Baller)
NATO has been directly goading Russia for years. This is the latest escalation. And it is definitely a move to keep Germany on side, but by whom US is too easy. This is more likely a false flag by someone else to really start the war
Replying to @martyrmade
Was clear this is US 'burning Europe's boats' - no backsliding now it's getting cold!
But the obviousness of sabotage and the fact this stuff is openly being posted suggests that the US only barely cares about deniability (if at all).
Implies NATO is directly goading Russia.
Tom Luongo (Powell's a Baller)
Has anyone noticed Russia's silence on the whole "blowing up our pipelines" scenario?
Everyone is laying claim, denying, speculating... but Russia hasn't said a thing. Silence is deafening.
The Treasury Department just had a straight-up terrible 30-year bond auction, following two solid debt auctions. These are the first three debt sales of the AA+ era, remember, and all eyes were on these auctions as a test of how investors would react to the downgrade.
It's always appeared to me that the Fed has to keep raising rates. An economy can't long withstand real rates of negative 8 % (the real rate when Powell started) or even negative 5% (the approximate real rate today). It is a massive destruction of any wealth held in bonds and a massive transfer to debtors.
Russia had every motive in the world to blow the pipeline since it would allow them to deny gas to Europe while pointing the fickle finger of blame at us. That said, I take no position on who did it, I acknowledge that in fact we may have done it, and I wish to add that I was nowhere near the Baltic when this happened and can prove it. All that said, nothing remains secret in Washington for long, so if in fact we did it, I do not expect the perps to be able to long hide their guilt.
The interesting thing here is that if we did it, then the regime is guilty of a grossly irresponsible act that will cost us dearly. If we did not do it, then the regime is still guilty of gross irresponsibility since they made public threats against the pipeline that no competent statesman would ever have made. Thus regardless of attribution, American foreign policy is a clown car. One wired with, as Keanu Reeves said in that movie "Enough Semtex to put a hole in the world"
I was excited about Meloni until I learned she was a Zelensky supporter. This is one of my acid tests of someone's political and moral views. I couldn't care less whether you support Russia or Ukraine--indeed I take the view it is unseemly for Americans to take sides in border wars between godless Soviets. But all of the Kyiv stans--excuse me, we won the Cold War, it's spelled Kiev--have made support for Ukraine the sin qua non for membership in all of the internationalist organizations. NATO, UN, IMF, World Bank, etc. You have to be a Zelensky Stan to expect to get cash from the "global community." You have to loudly proclaim that Putin is literally Hitler. Sorry--if you support Zelensky you are the 21st century Hitler apologist, the only question is why?
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-blew-russian-gas-pipelines-nord-stream-1-2-says-former-polish-defense-minister
Could the Euros be waking up? But someone undoubtedly forgot to set Ursula’s alarm clock!
I think the guy in the ZeroHedge article does not frame the issue correctly. It is tunnel-visioned and sensationalistic to frame this as the evil Fed vs. the equities market. Too many people likely have this mindset because all they have ever known is close to zero interest rates and the concomitant financialization of the markets and of the economy that drove asset valuations ever higher over the last 15 years. What will ultimately limit the Fed and cause a pause if not a pivot in raising rates is IMO not how hard the markets crash but illiquidity in Treasuries (there is already disorder there) and credit facilities.
That said he is on point in citing the herd (sheep) mentality of the markets. The Fed will continue to raise rates and tighten as long as they still see a need to tame inflation - the sheep need to and will soon capitulate to this idea, thus contributing to a reset of equity valuations, along with inflation, decreased corporate earnings, and increased costs.
The guys in the linked via CTH Gooslby/Santori, Mulvaney interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-JiZmXnPeE&t=3s) frame the problem(s) a lot better. Goolsby and especially Mulvaney both correctly state that the Fed has made mistakes in the past and is now limited in what it can do (namely raise rates and tighten) and cannot bring inflation under control by themselves. They both note the need to address supply side issues such as energy and computer chips, etc. Spot on.
I’m beginning to think that perhaps Joe Biden isn’t the only politician who isn’t playing with a full deck.
Just a couple points to consider. A) The depth of the Baltic averages around 155 feet..I think? Not sure the depth of the pipeline there, but if it is at 150-160 feet, its easily reached by Navy divers. Recreational divers certify to 60 feet, advanced to 130.
B) If the depths are more, it matters not: either way, Navy divers would have a decompresion chamber waiting on the ship (or sub?) for them.
The point being, even at 200-300 feet this sabotage could have been done by divers without a sub...but satellites would also have picked up surface ships, so theres that.
I think the Brits did it and made it look like it was the USA.
They had motive and financial gains to make. They are controlled directly by the Crown Corporation in the City of London and those buggers are never elected or even chosen. They inherit.
https://francesleader.substack.com/p/2-russian-pipeline-leaks-into-baltic
Sean Davis
@seanmdav
America’s incompetent foreign policy bureaucracy is doing everything in its power to blunder the U.S. into a full-scale war with Russia. Destroying the nation’s economy, manufacturing base, energy industry, and rule of law apparently wasn’t enough.
Aaron Maté
@aaronjmate
In response to Europe's energy crisis, Putin said on Sept. 17 that if Europe wants to solve the issue, it can ignore US orders and open up the Nord Steam 2 pipeline. "Just push the button and everything will get going," Putin said.
Instead, someone bombed it.
Tom Luongo is suggesting Russia did it. My understanding is that this could only have been accomplished via submarine--not "frogmen". That narrows the field. But Russia could cut off the gas any time it wants--righty tighty, lefty loosey. Why? Having the pipeline in place gives Russia leverage. False flag sabotage? Benefits are really, really speculative, IMO.
Tom Luongo (Powell's a Baller)
NATO has been directly goading Russia for years. This is the latest escalation. And it is definitely a move to keep Germany on side, but by whom US is too easy. This is more likely a false flag by someone else to really start the war
Replying to @martyrmade
Was clear this is US 'burning Europe's boats' - no backsliding now it's getting cold!
But the obviousness of sabotage and the fact this stuff is openly being posted suggests that the US only barely cares about deniability (if at all).
Implies NATO is directly goading Russia.
Tom Luongo (Powell's a Baller)
Has anyone noticed Russia's silence on the whole "blowing up our pipelines" scenario?
Everyone is laying claim, denying, speculating... but Russia hasn't said a thing. Silence is deafening.
Treasury Bond-Sale Fail
By Mark Gongloff
Oops.
Well, two out of three ain't bad, I guess.
The Treasury Department just had a straight-up terrible 30-year bond auction, following two solid debt auctions. These are the first three debt sales of the AA+ era, remember, and all eyes were on these auctions as a test of how investors would react to the downgrade.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/09/27/cdc-drops-universal-masking-recommendation-for-healthcare-workers/
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/partial-results-show-96-favor-joining-russia-ukraine-annexation-polls-close-state
https://thesaker.is/2022-09-27-the-americans-declared-war-on-europe-gonzalo-lira/
Thank you, USA. pic.twitter.com/nALlYQ1Crb
— Radek Sikorski MEP (@radeksikorski) September 27, 2022
It's always appeared to me that the Fed has to keep raising rates. An economy can't long withstand real rates of negative 8 % (the real rate when Powell started) or even negative 5% (the approximate real rate today). It is a massive destruction of any wealth held in bonds and a massive transfer to debtors.