KY_EnviroGuy
KY_EnviroGuy's JournalThere's a risk the big guys could start cutting loose the dollar.
If we piss off enough people, some big guys could start shedding dollar holdings big time.
One nation cannot go around whipping half the world with its big stick while offering few carrots for very long.....
Another international form of sanctions.....
This is what I call dedication (good photos from Guardian UK)
Epiphany, Elton and robots – Monday's best photosThe Guardian’s picture editors select photo highlights from around the world including anti-US protests, snow and toy tanks
Compiled by Arnel Hecimovic
Mon 6 Jan 2020 14.42 EST
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2020/jan/06/epiphany-elton-and-robots-monday-best-photos
Bulgarian men perform the traditional Horo dance in the Tundzha river, as part of Epiphany Day celebrations.
Photograph: Nikolay Doychinov/AFP via Getty Images
Hope they've all had their flu shots.......
KY............
Take a Break: Towering ice palaces at China's Harbin Ice Festival
Towering ice palaces at China's Harbin Ice FestivalThe Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in China held its opening ceremony on Sunday 5 January, amid fireworks and celebrations.
See more here: https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-51007094
Samples.....
Love the way they're using colored lighting now.
KY.........
We do live in a bubble, mostly privileged by the almighty dollar.
Some things that could knock America out of those Lazyboys...
* Any conflict that disrupts the massive import supply chains, both for finished goods (shiny new objects at Walmart) and for raw materials (steel, copper, etc.).
* Any conflict serious enough to justify reestablishment of the military draft.
* Disruption of oil supplies or an OPEC revolt causing high gas prices for a long period of time.
* Terrorist actions that induce mass fear of poisoning of water or food supplies, or fear of traveling.
* Cyber attacks that could cause sustained disruptions of banking services, markets or large areas of the power grid.
* A significant portion of the world turning against the dollar being the standard unit of currency or primary reserve currency.
* A sustained high-cost conflict that throws the world prematurely into the next big recession or even a great depression. Many economists are saying we're on the verge of a serious recession at this time.
Hard to be optimistic at this point in history with hard right-wingers occupying so many governments......
Trump's people are not satisfied with one or two whacks at the hornet's nest.
Apparently, they want to whack it until the whole damn nest erupts and starts a full-blown war.
They're doing everything they can to unify the citizens of Iran and Iraq along with many of the Shia Islamists on Earth (possibly as many as 200 million people) against the Western world.
KY........
We need to remind Republicans that President Obama's State Dept......
was up to their ears in international negotiations to finalize a very complex nuclear agreement with Iran. I recall the many trials Sec. Kerry went through that seemed endless at the time.
It wouldn't be very smart to assassinate one of Iran's top leaders during that time.
Oh wait....I'm forgetting the Rethugs don't understand diplomacy or multilateral deals.
They also don't comprehend "smart"..........
Good primer article (2013) on Qassem Suleimani, Iranian commander.....
we assassinated today.
The Shadow Commander
Qassem Suleimani is the Iranian operative who has been reshaping the Middle East. Now he’s directing Assad’s war in Syria.
By Dexter Filkins
September 23, 2013
Link to article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/09/30/the-shadow-commander
(snips)
When Suleimani appears in public—often to speak at veterans’ events or to meet with Khamenei—he carries himself inconspicuously and rarely raises his voice, exhibiting a trait that Arabs call khilib, or understated charisma. “He is so short, but he has this presence,” a former senior Iraqi official told me. “There will be ten people in a room, and when Suleimani walks in he doesn’t come and sit with you. He sits over there on the other side of room, by himself, in a very quiet way. Doesn’t speak, doesn’t comment, just sits and listens. And so of course everyone is thinking only about him.”
Credit: ran across this on Natasha Bertrand's twitter page, see: https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand She's an excellent resource for national security event news.
IMO, in the long term, this event will not end well for the United States, just as the Iraq war did not end well and we're still paying for it.
Unfortunately, Trump and his administration do not care about our long-term survival.....
OK, who's been dumping Miracle-Gro on the tumbleweed in WA?
either that or there's a huge leak out of the Hanford Site......
Ambushed: 15ft tumbleweeds trap drivers and force road closure
Mobile plants forced authorities to close a highway in both directions for hours in Washington state on New Year’s Eve
Associated Press in West Richland, Washington state
Thu 2 Jan 2020 02.13 GMT / First published on Wed 1 Jan 2020 18.39 GMT
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/01/tumbleweeds-trap-drivers-force-road-closure-washington
(snips)
The Washington state patrol announced via Twitter at around 6.30pm local time on New Year’s Eve that drivers on State Route 240 near West Richland should use alternative routes. Trooper Sarah Clasen told KAPP-KVEW vehicles were trapped in a pile of tumbleweeds that were up to 15ft (4.57m) tall.
The state department of transportation used snow plows to clear the scene, a process trooper Chris Thorson said took about 10 hours. The road opened again at around 4.30am, well into 2020. Thorson said five cars and one 18-wheel semi truck were trapped. No injuries were reported.
“People were still stuck at midnight and rung in the new year trapped under the weeds,” Thorson said, adding that troopers found one abandoned car trapped in the tumbleweeds at daylight. No one was inside.
A truck trapped by a pile of tumbleweeds
KY............
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Gender: MaleHometown: TN, KY
Home country: USA
Current location: KY
Member since: Thu Jul 6, 2017, 07:43 PM
Number of posts: 14,578