Fuel Shortages in Russia
Somebody smart launched a ‘Special Military Operation’ on Feb. 24, 2022. He said: ‘I issued an order to start a special military operation, blah-blah-blah.’
Well, the guy probably expected to take Kyiv in a matter of days and finish everything in a couple of weeks.
According to his plan.
Well, something went wrong. Well, it happens.
Now, we have what we have. Several days ago in Moscow I wanted to buy some petrol as the tank was almost empty. I’ve heard the news about Moscow’s refinery being bombed and badly damaged. Even officials confirmed that. I knew there would be problems buying it.
Yet, I didn’t know the scale of it.
With a petrol lamp already on, I skipped the first station because the line of cars seemed too long to me and I didn’t bother to join it because I didn’t want to waste my time. Well, the next one, Lukoil, was selling diesel fuel only. The other three on the highway were closed. I started to feel troubled as I was driving, the fuel was running low, and no active station was in sight. Finally, I joined another line of cars without caring how much time I’d spend there. It was a stop-n-go line, so I was turning the engine off while the car wasn’t moving, trying to save my last drops of gaz.
I finally made it, feeling a great deal of relief.
The situation didn’t get better as days went by. Now Russia, one of the world’s biggest oil-producing countries, is going to buy petrol from India. To those who might not know, Russia sells oil to India, and then buys petrol from India.
What a nice business model!
As refineries across the countries fall down just like in a domino effect, I don’t see any major improvement.
Welcome to the great new world. This is the fifth year of the Special Military Operation. I wonder what new surprises one should expect in the future. Let’s embrace them! We’re unstoppable, you know.
A democratic arrogance…..
For me, the biggest story of the week is not Wimbledon, nor the World Cup, but the apparently unstoppable march of Andy Burnham towards 10 Downing Street.
Burnham is, by almost any measure, a successful politician. Three times elected Mayor of Greater Manchester, he returned to Westminster only weeks ago after winning the Makerfield by-election comfortably against Reform UK. There is nothing remotely undemocratic about that result. The people of Makerfield made their choice, and they made it decisively.
What sits rather less comfortably is everything that has happened since.
His selection for Makerfield always looked like more than filling a parliamentary vacancy. It appeared to be the carefully laid first step in replacing Sir Keir Starmer, whose premiership has steadily collapsed under the weight of its own indecision. The plan has worked to perfection.
Now, unless something utterly unexpected happens, Burnham will become both Labour leader and Prime Minister without a contest, without a vote of Labour’s membership, and certainly without the British public having any say in the matter.
Yes, I know the constitutional argument. Britain does not elect Prime Ministers; we elect MPs, and the governing party chooses its leader. That is how our system has always worked.
But legality and legitimacy are not always the same thing.
It feels extraordinary that a by-election involving barely a few thousand voters should become the launchpad for Britain’s next Prime Minister. In the space of just a few weeks, one safe Labour constituency will effectively have decided who occupies Number 10.
If Burnham takes office, he will become Britain’s sixth Prime Minister in little more than a decade. Whatever your politics, that is hardly a ringing endorsement of stability.
Burnham has earned the nickname “King of the North”, and by most accounts he is one of the few politicians who people actually seem to like. Whether he can claim the South, East and West as well remains to be seen.
Mind you, given the calibre of so many of today’s politicians, perhaps simply being likeable now counts as an outstanding qualification. The bar isn’t just low anymore—it seems to have disappeared altogether.
Harmony or Tone Deaf?
The entire world follows Trump’s every social media post. If you don’t live in the US, there’s a different story you may find surprising. The old adage, about things that are important will still matter ten years from now, is true. I want to share a change that will matter in twenty years.
If you think the Americans support Israel, you’re not paying attention. A few powerful politicians do, but most Americans don’t. The war with Iran lit a fire. Suddenly, US politicians who put Israel before America are fighting a rear-guard action. To say that Bibi is unpopular here is an understatement. Iran understands this and has managed to expertly exploit that schism.
This new reality crosses political parties. Example: Marjorie Taylor-Green, Tucker Carlson, and other high-profile members of the Republican Party have renounced party membership – gone. On the liberal side, you cannot find anyone who will accept a bribe/donation from AIPAC (Israel’s PAC to influence US politics). It’s poison if you’re a Democrat. If you’re a younger voter, the distain for Israel is even more extreme and growing rapidly.
Donald Trump is running. That whole Iran thing is killing him and he’s been arguing with his pal, Benjamin Netanyahu, about how much support the US can continue to give. Apparently, these phone calls have become heated at times.
But the old guard has several months before the US elections and are doing what they can to insulate Israel. Example: quietly tucked into the Defense appropriations bill is a short bit that requires the US to give the IDF all, I said ALL, intelligence on any subject. Moreover, the same passage requires ALL defense contractors to turn over everything necessary to co-produce any weapon. All expertise and blueprints, everything. The political left is calling it a merger between the two militaries. This will be un-done as soon as possible but it will not matter. You can rest assured that Israel will take every scrap the US possesses within weeks.
I think these foolish old white men are making a huge mistake that will only serve to amplify anti-Israel feelings. The Netanyahu government has done nothing to make the situation better. They openly threaten anyone who appears not to fall in line. The overused racist taunt of being anti-Semitic has lost its venom: Bibi didn’t get the memo.
For the Israelis, the stakes could not be higher. The US taxpayer pays for much of the Israeli economy. Americans don’t have free healthcare or free higher-education. Israel can afford both because of US taxpayer money. Doesn’t sound like Trump’s America First to me, or to anybody, from any party. This is eating MAGA from inside and will rock the Republican Party to its core. Iran, Iraq, all the blood, all the adventures, it’s all about to return to Netanyahu. If you think I aggregate, here’s a short video; there’s many more but I’ll not bore you.
There is speculation about a post-US Israel. The consensus is it will continue to exist. Maybe they will be forced to withdraw to ’67 borders, or that Israel may have to become a democracy. No, despite what the Israelis tell themselves, an apartheid state where only Jews enjoy full rights is not a democracy. I’m interested if a couple of the guys wanted for crimes against humanity will ever see justice. It’s about to get real and the tone-deaf Israelis don’t see the monster they’ve unleashed.