'Statement: On the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, The Elders call on all UN member states to condemn President Putin’s latest efforts to escalate his illegal war on Ukraine through suspending Russia’s participation in New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty). We urge Russia and the United States to return to dialogue to manage the risks of nuclear weaponby archive - Archive
'5. What are Ukraine's borders? They are similar to Russia's - they’re internationally recognized and defined in 1991. Russia also recognized these borders back then, and it must recognize them today as well. There is nothing to discuss here.' '2. The real reasons for this war are the political and economic problems within Russia, Putin's desire to hold on to poweby archive - Archive
'Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom warned that if China did start supplying arms to Russia then "it would definitely have consequences". "We need to pressure by all means also and give a warning to China that the international community will anyhow not accept it," Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said.' 'The EU's foreign policy chief oby archive - Archive
'But a principal lesson from the past year is that the risk of escalation is overblown. Ukraine is in a defensive war to recapture its own territory. As for the Russian autocrat, he has nothing left to escalate with other than manpower and nuclear weapons. If the West adequately arms Ukraine, he cannot win with the former and is very unlikely to resort to the latter, which would alienate hisby archive - Archive
'..Global inflation has not morphed into “disinflation;” the Fed and central bankers are not off the hook; bond yields are surging..' 'Lost in all the discussion of monetary policy, market forecasts and economic prospects is that Credit continues to expand excessively. Annualizing the New York Fed’s Q4 household borrowing data, Credit card debt expanded at a 26% pace and total dby archive - Archive
'Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Argentina hiked interest rates by 550 basis points in September, raising the cost of borrowing to a staggering 75%. However, because price rises are outpacing that, many people still fear their money will be devalued if they leave it in a savings account.' 'People in Argentina are battling inflation of almost 100%, meaning that the average basketby archive - Archive
'As long as Ukraine has enough ammunition (always the key consideration) these massive Russian offensives should be containable. Indeed, assuming Ukraine does have enough ammo, its preferable to see the Russians expending their resources in this wasteful way. It would be worse for the Ukrainians if the Russians were intelligently collecting their resources.' - Phillips P. OBrien, Rusby archive - Archive
'The challenge is providing Ukraine with sufficient relative advantage to enable offensive operations under changed conditions in 2023. Unlikely to be solved by any single capability, but through a combination of means, organizational adaptations, and changes in force employment.' 'Arguably, UA is better served absorbing the RU attack & exhausting RU offensive potential, theby archive - Archive
'From history, we know that once unmoored, inflation tends toward a cycle of unpredictability and destabilizing volatility that can extend for years and even decades. Burns and Miller have lots of company when it comes to ineffective half-measure responses to escalating price pressures. There are huge longer-term costs associated with failing to employ aggressive measures to quickly containby archive - Archive
'The records reviewed by the Journal, however, show Chinese companies—both state-owned and private—as the dominant exporters of dual-use goods that U.S. officials say are of particular concern.' 'WASHINGTON—China is providing technology that Moscow’s military needs to prosecute the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine despite an international cordon of sanctions and export controls, accordiby archive - Archive
'The way this new military assistance is announced also matters. Rather than providing ATACMs in March, Reapers in June, and jets in September, NATO should go for a Big Bang. Plans to provide all these systems should be announced on February 24, 2023, the first anniversary of Putin’s invasion. An announcement of this size will produce an important psychological effect inside the Kremlin andby archive - Archive
'..As of November, the Fed was still far behind the curve by any reasonable measure.' - Mish, Real Interest Rates: Is the Fed Finally Ahead of the Curve? January 31, 2023 '(Bloomberg) -- Rice prices are climbing, a sign that the food inflation shock that threw millions into poverty is still reverberating, even as the cost of wheat and other farm commodities has declined.by archive - Archive
'The price of household staples like eggs, butter, and milk are still up substantially over the past year. The latest CPI report indicated that egg prices rose just under 60% year-over-year and 11.1% month-over-month, largely due to an outbreak of avian flu. Butter prices, meanwhile, rose by 35.3% annually while milk prices rose by 12.5%. These higher costs not only weigh on consumers — tby archive - Archive
'To be fair, countries like Poland and the Czech Republic stand out for the provision of hundreds of of their own main battle tanks so far .. there really is only two solutions: the US M1 tank and the German Leo 2. Both have huge fleets, which could be made available..' 'Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a torturous debate in Europe and the United States over the prby archive - Archive
'..These are highly speculative markets, and the more speculative they become, the more difficult it will be for the Fed to tighten conditions. I today equate such loose conditions with ongoing strong Credit growth and persistent inflation. ..inflationary forces have been unleashed. There are now powerful inflationary dynamics lurking throughout the system – at home and globally. Companieby archive - Archive
'Petkov insists one thing is irreversible: “We have shown that a world is possible without dependence and fear of Russia.”' 'On February 25, just one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, at an informal European Council meeting in Brussels, Petkov stressed to his fellow leaders that Zelenskyy may have less than 48 hours to live, that he was on Moscow’by archive - Archive
'..American officials maintain they have never stood in the way of Germany or any other nation sending Western tanks to Ukraine. There are an estimated 2,000 German-made Leopard tanks in more than a dozen militaries across Europe. Some could be shipped quickly to Ukraine if Berlin approved..' - Western Tanks Appear Headed to Ukraine, Breaking Another Taboo, Januari 12, 2023by archive - Archive
'Even the Pope, who at the beginning of the war appeared to take care to accommodate Kremlin views, this month compared the war in Ukraine to the Nazi genocide of the Jews.' - Catherine Belton (Source, December 30, 2022) Context 'Crimea is Ukraine. Donetsk is Ukraine. Kherson is Ukraine. Luhansk is Ukraine. Zaporizhzhia is Ukraine..' (The liberation of Crimea andby archive - Archive
'..it would behoove Western experts to acknowledge that there is more that we can learn from the Ukrainians about crucial aspects of modern war than they can learn from us .. More important is our goal, and our theory of victory. The West cannot intend merely to “help Ukraine defend itself”—a mushy phrase for a mushy idea. We must help Ukraine defeat Russian aggression and expel Russian forcby archive - Archive
'Crimea is Ukraine. Donetsk is Ukraine. Kherson is Ukraine. Luhansk is Ukraine. Zaporizhzhia is Ukraine..' '..It could be argued that Russia is doing its best to create a state of permanent conflict with its western neighbor through tactics such as bombing schools, kidnapping Ukrainian children, and dismantling critical infrastructure. Nevertheless, officials in Kyiv are activby archive - Archive
'Years of reckless monetary inflation, bypassing consumer prices as it stoked asset price inflation and Bubbles, had finally come to a conclusion. No longer could central bankers simply fixate on the financial markets and lean on unconventional monetary stimulus, while disregarding inflation risk.' 'It had all been a grand illusion: the Fed and free “money” generating a permanenby archive - Archive
'The UN Development Programme said the "historic agreement" meant people around the world could hope for real progress to halt biodiversity loss.' 'Nations have agreed to protect a third of the planet for nature by 2030 in a landmark deal aimed at safeguarding biodiversity. There will also be targets for protecting vital ecosystems such as rainforests and wetlands aby archive - Archive
'American lawmakers submitted a resolution to Congress calling on Joe Biden's administration to initiate the process of expelling Russia from the UN Security Council.' - The US Congress passed a resolution to expel Russia from the UN Security Council - Foreign Policy, December 15, 2022 Context Russians mistreated Kherson youngsters in 'children's cell,'by archive - Archive
'Dec 14 (Reuters) - Ukrainian investigators in an area recaptured from Russian troops have uncovered a cell where children were detained and mistreated, a senior Ukrainian human rights advocate said on Wednesday.' - Russians mistreated Kherson youngsters in 'children's cell,' says Ukraine official, December 15, 2022 Context (Mandela)(UN Responsibility to protectby archive - Archive
'To put things into perspective: Average inflation in the world has jumped to 10.2%, the first double-digit increase since statistics began.' - Holger Zschaepitz (Source, October 14, 2022) 'The Fed fueled a massive run-up in financial asset prices last year, from stocks and houses to crypto, by slashing interest rates to zero and buying up trillions of dollars in bonds..by archive - Archive
'Binance says an audit shows proof of reserves of customer funds. But its auditor will not vouch for the reserves nor the methodology demanded by Binance.' - Mish, Binance's Alleged Crypto Audit Failed, Not Even Its Auditor Would Vouch For It, December 12, 2022 'In recent months, prosecutors at NCET and the Seattle office concluded they had sufficient evidence to prepaby archive - Archive
'According to international law, a country that has been attacked by another country has the right to self-defence and also request assistance from partners and allies to help in this process. So Ukraine and NATO aren’t going against the law.' 'NATO should step up the delivery of weapons to Ukraine. The Ukrainians have demonstrated high efficiency in the use of the weapons theyby archive - Archive
'Host Anne McElvoy asks Ben Hodges, a former commanding general of US Army Europe, why he thinks a Ukrainian victory is beyond doubt. BEN HODGES, a former commanding general of US Army Europe, believes that Ukraine has achieved “an irreversible momentum” since the liberation of Kherson. He predicts the country could declare victory against Russia by the summer. Host Anne McElvoy asks himby archive - Archive
'All of which invites the question: Why do these rail barons hate paid leave so much? Why would a company have no problem handing out 24 percent raises, $1,000 bonuses, and caps on health-care premiums but draw the line on providing a benefit as standard and ubiquitous throughout modern industry as paid sick days? The answer, in short, is “P.S.R.” — or precision-scheduled railroading.by archive - Archive
'Podolyak estimated Ukraine’s current needs at 150-200 tanks, about 300 armored vehicles, 100 artillery systems, 50-70 multiple launch rocket systems, including HIMARS, as well as 10-15 anti-aircraft defense systems to close the sky.' - The Kyiv Independent (Source, November 20, 2022) '..There have been some interesting sources today which reflect on what is said here. Oneby archive - Archive