Tweets of the Day, Russia, Gold, China, the US Dollar, More

Image from a Tweet video in Moscow

Finland and Sweden End Neutrality

GDP Forecasts Tumbling

The US Dollar

MMT and the Ruble

Gold-Backed Fiat Currency Does Not Exist

Bitcoin Fantasy

U-Turn by China?

Germany to Supply Ukraine with Weapons

Paying Back Debt

When the US and EU cut off Russia from the SWIFT payment system, Russia cannot pay its debt. 

This creates a demand for US dollars and some have suggested the Fed step in. The idea  is not to aid Russia but to aid companies in the US and EU that Russia owes.

I suspect this is the second reason Putin did not expect to be cutoff from SWIFT. The first reason is the EU’s, especially Germany’s dependence on Russia’s natural gas.

Thoughts on China

Beijing Says Russia and China Not Allies

Even Switzerland Joins the Sanction Parade 

https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1498291834153586688

Protests in Moscow

Putin Seems Delusional

Switzerland’s move is a unique break from its decades-long policy of strict neutrality.

Nearly the whole world is now united against Putin. 

In case you missed it, please see Russian Ruble In a Freefall, Plunges to Record Low Against the Dollar

This post originated on MishTalk.Com.

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plashadpobedy
plashadpobedy
2 years ago
Biden is basking in golden rays of proving himself a great leader, if not one of the greatest. We’ve never needed his decisiveness more than right now. Nancy Pelosi is exemplary. How did so many great leaders just appear all at the same time? The Millennials are so lucky. Mr. President, open up those recruitment stations to take every patriot (who is fully-vaxxed).  Yay, Brandon!
Esclaro
Esclaro
2 years ago
The whole world is united against Putin? No. Trump and his Republican Death Cult are firmly in Putin’s corner and singing his praises. Traitors? Definitely.
PreCambrian
PreCambrian
2 years ago
Maybe even Trump will come out against Putin.
Jojo
Jojo
2 years ago
Reply to  PreCambrian
Only when/if Putin capitulates and withdraws.  Trump hates “losers”.
JJ Johnson
JJ Johnson
2 years ago
No matter what happens, Putin has lost.
Capture &/or kill him, instant martyr status.
Retreat, admit temporary defeat? That’d be new for Putin
Now you have Finland looking to Nato, Ukraine just applied for fast track EU status, most likely they’ll get in.  
This is going 180 degrees the wrong way for Putin.  He’s even getting Chinese resistance.  
pimaCanyon
pimaCanyon
2 years ago
wow, the crowd pivots from one psyop to another just like that!  Holier-than-thou pushers of experimental injections are now holier-than-thou Putin haters.  Never mind that in 1990 the US and other NATO countries told Russia that NATO would not expand east of Germany. Never mind that since 1990 NATO has added FOURTEEN countries that are east of Germany, two of which share borders with Russia.  Never mind that in 2014 the US, with the help of Ukrainian Nazi’s, ousted a democratically elected President and installed a new pro-West president.  Never mind that Ukrainian forces are now shelling civilian areas in Donestk.  The New World Order has told us, Putin bad, so we must all join and shout, Putin bad!
EGW
EGW
2 years ago
Reply to  pimaCanyon
Most people are willfully ignorant or simply don’t know history. The US wants confrontation, right now it’s a convenient distraction from Biden’s dismal approval rating, etc.
Roadrunner12
Roadrunner12
2 years ago
Reply to  EGW
Agreed again. It is a convenient distraction from Bidens dismal approval rating and I would add increasing inflation. The narrative is already  that Russia is the devil and the cause of inflation, high energy and high food prices. 
Jojo
Jojo
2 years ago
Reply to  pimaCanyon
Wow!  Can you produce the signed document confirming what you say?
Jack
Jack
2 years ago
Reply to  pimaCanyon
These 14 countries saw the writing on Putin’s wall and hurriedly signed up to NATO. 
All these 14 countries would  prefer  not be in NATO and not have such an aggressive state next door.
EGW
EGW
2 years ago
The US and its allies are playing a dangerous game here. Giving weapons to Ukraine now would be openly taking part in a proxy war with Russia and Russia might use that as justification to ramp up hostilities in other neighboring countries. If Putin really is a madman is it wise to back him into a corner?
In order to stop the war before it goes too far, I don’t see what’s so bad about Ukraine becoming a neutral country (maintaining its independence) with no path to joining NATO; Ukraine granting some autonomy to the Donbas region in exchange for reunification, and Ukraine dropping its claim on Crimea (which has always been overwhelmingly Russian).
Jojo
Jojo
2 years ago
Reply to  EGW
Russia cannot withstand the combined might of NATO + the USA.  If Putin forces WWIII, he will lose badly.  Russia will lose all they hold dear, including their country, which will be divided up and traded/sold to the highest Euro bidders when all is said and done .  And yes, China will stay out of it, unless they are threatened directly, which they won’t be.
Sometimes you just have to take the bull by the tail and look the situation in the eye!
EGW
EGW
2 years ago
Reply to  Jojo
If you think anyone can win a nuclear war then you are a fool. There are no winners in a direct war between the US and Russia.
Jojo
Jojo
2 years ago
Reply to  EGW
We have an excess of people, so can easily afford to lose a couple billion with no problems.  This is the blunt reality.  There comes a time when you have to stand up and be prepared to mix it up. 
Saw one of the pundits on TV today saying essentially the same thing.  Russia has time and again used the threat of deploying their nukes.  He called for the USA to also enter our special nuclear readiness to counter Putin’s statement.
StukiMoi
StukiMoi
2 years ago
Reply to  Jojo
“We have an excess of people”
As always, there is no workable definition of exactly who those “we” are……
In a US/Russia confrontation, they’ll for sure be Americans. As well as Russians. Despite most of those no doubt not counting themselves among those ever ill defined “we” ‘s.
whirlaway
whirlaway
2 years ago
Reply to  Jojo
“Russia will… be divided up and traded/sold to the highest Euro bidders”.  

And they will be the ones wearing the best radiation suits, I guess?!   

Christoball
Christoball
2 years ago
Reply to  whirlaway
“Russia will… be divided up and traded/sold to the highest Euro bidders”. 
With the Ukraine in the EU that is about what will happen to it. Ukraine looses sovereignty by taking either side. They should remain neutral rather than neutered.
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
2 years ago
Reply to  Jojo
wait, what? … US politicians taking to social media to express outrage … and (some) states removing Russian vodka from shelves … not enough?
What do you suggest?
pimaCanyon
pimaCanyon
2 years ago
Reply to  Jojo
only trouble with that is that WE the US is the bully.  We reneged on our promise to not expand NATO east of Germany.  In 2014 the US, with the help of Ukrainian Nazi’s, helped oust a democratically elected President in Ukraine and installed a pro-West president.  We have Russia surrounded with US and NATO military bases.  As Putin has said, “How would the Americans react if missiles were installed just across our border in Canada or Mexico?”  The US is the bully.  We don’t believe in democracy, we have fought democracy for decades in Latin America and in 2014 in Ukraine.  We made an unprovoked invasion of Iraq, we’ve bombed the hell of countries in the Middle East and Africa.  The US is the bully on the world stage, not Putin.
Roadrunner12
Roadrunner12
2 years ago
Reply to  pimaCanyon
 “How would the Americans react if missiles were installed just across our border in Canada or Mexico?” 
Or Cuba?
Carl_R
Carl_R
2 years ago
Reply to  Roadrunner12
Well, if Kennedy had been like Putin, I guess that, as soon as Cuba started talking to Russia, he would have made up some pretense to invade Cuba, and would never have waited for actual missiles to be installed.
Jojo
Jojo
2 years ago
Reply to  Roadrunner12
No one cares.  It’s not going to happen.  This is a dumb comparison that is being shopped around all over the net.  Likely from Ruskie assets attempting to come up with a rational for their invasion of an independent country. 
Carl_R
Carl_R
2 years ago
Reply to  pimaCanyon
The “promise” was an aside comment from Baker, 30 years ago. It never was a part of the agreement. Times change. Countries change. Leaders change. The situation today is very different today than 30 years ago. Why do you think all these Eastern Europe countries are eager to join NATO? Once they feared being taken over by European powers. Today they fear being invaded by Putin. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine will push any/all of them to try to join NATO.
StukiMoi
StukiMoi
2 years ago
Reply to  Jojo
“Russia cannot withstand the combined might of NATO + the USA. “
A bunch of dudes in sandals just did…… Without even breaking that much of a sweat….. In terms of dollars spent, that one must have been 2 trillion to a few million loss for those “combined might’ers”
The whole reason for this “exercise”, is largely because Kremlin isn’t all that worried about the real world abilities of the ever-more-thinly stretched and unfocused NATO anymore.
NATO has become good (relatively speaking at least…) at putting on televised Disneyesque fireworks displays over third world strawhut villages, in the process killing a bunch of random dudes that they then can then posthumously deem and find and hold were “militants” and bogeymen to their ever so uncritical captive indoctrinati back home. The displays also conveniently serving as marketing fodder for arms sales to, and by now more important dollar-financialization facilitated wealth extraction from, clueless tinpots bent on scaring their own designated captives into submission. Just as is the case with Russia, arms are increasingly the only goods The West, in in its advanced state of financialized decay, can compete at producing anymore.
But once any of those designated strawhut bogeymen decides to ask “so what?”, there’s no viable response. No real ability to stay the course against determined opposition. Just a whole lot of babble and self righteous pontification aimed at nothing more than looking cool to dumb people back home. As well as random, going nowhere, extravagantly expensive displays of scifi violence directed against people “somewhere else.”
What Russia cannot withstand, is not a bunch of taxfeeding blowhards babbling away on TV while living it up on funds stolen from their own population via debasement. But instead a genuinely determined-not-to-be-occupied Ukranian population. That population is the one who will determine the outcome of this. If Ukranians turn out to mainly be opposed to the immediate violence of the war itself, while being fairly agnostic as to whether the government in Kyiv is propped up by Russia or by the US as long as they themselves are left in relative peace, Russia can very well get away with changing the government to one less likely to want US forces on Ukrainian soil. Then stage some “negotiations,” put a few high profile politicians, strongmen and gangsters on trial for being bogeymen, shower the people worst affected by the war with some reconstruction aid, and move on.
But if it turns out Ukranians would rather be dead than occupied, it’s game over for Russia. They may as well just pack up and leave. After having, at best, indicated that they are both willing and able to unleash some fury on Ukraine, if they should insist on hosting NATO troops and kit. Russia is not even remotely big enough to maintain an occupation force, capable of keeping down determined long term opposition over there. They’d go bankrupt quicker than the Soviets did, back when they were the ones getting slapped around by the sandal dudes that just did so to The West.
Scooot
Scooot
2 years ago
Reply to  EGW
Give in to someone who imposes his will on you by force in other words. If that was the worlds response how long would it be before the poor souls in another country had their world turned upside down? 
Roadrunner12
Roadrunner12
2 years ago
Reply to  Scooot
Can you please clarify your statement, Im not sure about which country you were talking about? Russia, US, eg.
Jojo
Jojo
2 years ago
Reply to  Roadrunner12
Poland?
Jack
Jack
2 years ago
Reply to  Roadrunner12
Latvia?
Lithuania?
Estonia?
Moldova?
Finland?
These moving onto Czech, Slovakia, Hungary, etc…
All been done before.
Roadrunner12
Roadrunner12
2 years ago
Reply to  EGW
“In order to stop the war before it goes too far, I don’t see what’s so bad about Ukraine becoming a neutral country (maintaining its independence) with no path to joining NATO; Ukraine granting some autonomy to the Donbas region in exchange for reunification, and Ukraine dropping its claim on Crimea (which has always been overwhelmingly Russian).”
Ukraine is needless to say very strategic for both the US and Russia. 
EGW
EGW
2 years ago
Reply to  Roadrunner12
How is Ukraine strategic to US interests, besides becoming another gold mine for the military industrial complex?
Roadrunner12
Roadrunner12
2 years ago
Reply to  EGW
“How is Ukraine strategic to US interests, besides becoming another gold mine for the military industrial complex?”
Location namely. It allows Nato (US) access a very direct route to Moscow. Moscow is 5 hrs from Ukraine. Imagine the scenario of Russia having missiles in Cuba. How do you think the US would react to that scenario? Thats basically what I was referring was the MIC
EGW
EGW
2 years ago
Reply to  Roadrunner12
No, all you said was that Ukraine was strategic to both US and Russian interests. Other than that you just quoted me. It may be Washington’s opinion that Ukraine is a strategic interest to the US, but it’s obvious it’s for antagonizing Russia and not for any just reason.
As for the Cuba missile crisis 2.0 scenario, I’m pretty sure the US would react the same way Russia is right now. (Fun fact, the only reason the USSR even tried to place missiles in Cuba was because the US placed missiles in Turkey)
Roadrunner12
Roadrunner12
2 years ago
Reply to  EGW
You are a historian major. Yes, I should have been more specific. I was referring to US and Russian military interests specifically. I agree with your quote. Ukraine joining NATO especially with its location to Russia and specifically Moscow is certainly antagonizing to Russia.
Im having trouble understanding why some including MISH referring to Putin as delusional. I cant speak to his mental state but isnt the Russian response as expected?  
Carl_R
Carl_R
2 years ago
Reply to  Roadrunner12
No. His choice to invade another country and kill innocent people was unexpected. I guess I will turn the question around. Having the world unite against him, and other countries in Europe now eager to join NATO, or, if already in boosting defense spending dramatically, was expected, wasn’t it?
Doug78
Doug78
2 years ago
I think that the important factor is that Europe in unison has decided to take back control of their destiny and no longer be the passive non actor it has been for so many years. Not sure where it will lead but it is going somewhere. 
Carl_R
Carl_R
2 years ago
In other news, per Yahoo and other sites, hackers from “Anonymous” apparently caused Tass, Fontanka, Izvestia, and Kommersant to display the following message:
““Dear citizens. We urge you to stop this madness, do not send your
sons and husbands to certain death. Putin makes us lie and puts us in
danger.

We were isolated from the whole world, they stopped
buying oil and gas. In a few years we will live like in North Korea.
What is it for us?

To put Putin in the textbooks? This is not our
war, let’s stop it! This message will be deleted, and some of us will
be fired or even jailed. But we can’t take it anymore.

Indifferent journalists of Russia.”

Tass and Fontanka are back to normal now, apparently.
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
2 years ago
Meanwhile … retail / wholesale inventories (January) out today … getting heavier … naturally, December inventories revised higher …
Hopefully, consumer spending ready to ramp … oh wait, …
and latest University of Michigan Consumer  Sentiment survey BEFORE invasion of Ukraine.
MPO45
MPO45
2 years ago
Reply to  Tony Bennett
Wake up and smell the napalm.   There is going to be a new round of military stimulus now WORLDWIDE.  Mo money, mo profits.
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
2 years ago
Reply to  MPO45
possibly … the operative phrase from your link … “over the coming years” …
Not going to help in the here and now.
plashadpobedy
plashadpobedy
2 years ago
Reply to  MPO45
I like the smell of burning tires in the morning.

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