58 thoughts on “Hunter sold short”

  1. by big “Bs”, like in billions and billions, trading off familial & otherwise connections to 45 

    not like the measly millions with a small “m” reportedly paid to the prodigal son of 46

  3. stephen on another errant presidential son

    Russia’s default on its foreign debt is evidence that global sanctions are squeezing the country’s economy, and texts between the former president’s son and his Chief of Staff Mark Meadows reveal details of a pre-election plot to subvert the will of American voters. #Colbert #Comedy #Monologue

  4. Ukraine president warns of ‘new stage of terror’ as west probes chemical weapons claims | Ukraine | The Guardian

    “Today, the occupiers issued a new statement, which testifies to their preparation for a new stage of terror against Ukraine and our defenders,” Zelesnkiy said early on Tuesday. “One of the mouthpieces of the occupiers stated that they could use chemical weapons against the defenders of Mariupol. We take this as seriously as possible.”

     

    Russian forces may ‘burn people to the bone’ with phosphorous bombs in Ukraine | Washington Examiner

    “Russian forces’ prior use of phosphorous munitions in the Donetsk Oblast raises the possibility of their future employment in Mariupol as fighting for the city intensifies,” the United Kingdom’s Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update on Monday. “Russian shelling has continued in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with Ukrainian forces repulsing several assaults resulting in the destruction of Russian tanks, vehicles, and artillery equipment.”
    “Russia’s continued reliance on unguided bombs decreases their ability to discriminate when targeting and conducting strikes while greatly increasing the risk of further civilian casualties,” the British intelligence update on Ukraine concluded.
    White phosphorus is a waxlike substance that can be used in munitions such as artillery shells, bombs, and rockets to illuminate the battlefield at night or create a smoke screen during the day.
    When used as a weapon, phosphorus is “notorious for the severity of the injuries it causes,” such as severe burns or even death, according to Human Rights Watch.
    “White phosphorus can burn people to the bone, smolder inside the body, and reignite when bandages are removed,” according to Human Rights Watch.
    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Kremlin’s forces last month of using phosphorus bombs in Ukraine, claiming that “people were killed,” including children, by the munitions.
    Phosphorus is not classed as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention, but international law has limitations on the use of incendiary weapons, prohibiting them in areas where civilians are present.
    Russian forces have been accused throughout the war of targeting civilians.
    The United Nations human rights chief said last month that there are at least 24 credible cases in which it appears Russian forces have used clusters bombs in Ukraine.

  8. Texas. Aye caramba. My niece and her family live in Houston. And they apparently like it… Guess what industry her husband works in and what political party he is a member of. 

  9. LP gave sen schatz a well-deserved encore last week

    Spare us all Republicans’ newfound solidarity with Ukraine. They weren’t there when it mattered

  10. MBS’s payback for debt owed? relevant to the thread topic, aaron blake yesterday in wapo:

    […]
    November 2018: Trump issues a highly unusual statement smearing Khashoggi and effectively giving the Saudi government a pass by citing the strategic and economic importance of the alliance. “Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” Trump says. “That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran.”
    December 2018: Trump’s envoys to the United Nations block a Security Council resolution seeking accountability for alleged war crimes in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
    April 2019: Trump vetoes a bipartisan resolution to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.
    May 2019: The Trump administration signals it will bypass Congress in pursuing $8 billion in arms deals that would benefit Saudi Arabia, among others, and that Congress had blocked.
    July 2019: Congress votes, on a bipartisan basis, to block the Saudi arms deals, but Trump vetoes the resolution.
    December 2019: Within hours of a Saudi national killing three people at a naval base in Florida, Trump leaps to defend the royal family. “They are devastated in Saudi Arabia,” he says, citing the crown prince and King Salman. “They are devastated by what took place in Pensacola.”
    December 2020: The Trump administration signals it will sell nearly $500 million in bombs to Saudi Arabia in the waning days of Trump’s lame-duck period. The Biden administration later pauses the deal.

    Shortly before Trump pursued that last deal, The Post’s John Hudson summarized Trump’s relationship with the Saudis. Hudson particularly noted how Trump had helped prevent the crown prince from becoming a pariah but had “struggled to win Saudi cooperation on a number of pressing issues between the two countries.”
    “I saved his ass,” Trump told The Post’s Bob Woodward, according to Woodward’s 2020 book. “I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop.”
    And yet again, he described the lack of accountability for Khashoggi’s murder in brass-tacks, financial terms.
    “He says very strongly that he didn’t do it,” Trump said, before invoking the inflated figures he often cited: “Bob, they spent $400 billion over a fairly short period of time.”
    And now, it seems they spent $2 billion more in a way that more directly benefits Trump’s family.

  11. It is MSM hand wringing and absolute stinking reporting of jobs and inflation that is booming right now.  Look to China, russia, Saudi Arabia, oil producers and refiners for the problem.  The good news is that inflation was reducing when China was producing goods we buy, but with a lot of China locked down expect shortages.  The good news is that American production was picking up and shelves filling.  Even better news was I saw many price reductions in the grocery store on Sunday along with full shelves.  Gasoline? beat on oil and gas industry. President Biden does not run those.
     
     
     
     

  13. Chile announces unprecedented water rationing plan as drought enters 13th year

     
    SANTIAGO, April 11 (Reuters) – As a punishing, record-breaking drought enters its 13th year, Chile on Monday announced an unprecedented plan to ration water for the capital of Santiago, a city of nearly 6 million.
    “A city can’t live without water,” Claudio Orrego, the governor of the Santiago metropolitan region, said in a press conference. “And we’re in an unprecedented situation in Santiago’s 491-year history where we have to prepare for there to not be enough water for everyone who lives here.”
    https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/chile-announces-unprecedented-water-rationing-plan-drought-enters-13th-year-2022-04-11/
     

     

  15. The U.N. says Russia is the world’s No. 1 exporter of nitrogen fertilizer and No. 2 in phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. Its ally Belarus, also contending with Western sanctions, is another major fertilizer producer.
     
     
    In China, the price of potash — potassium-rich salt used as fertilizer — is up 86% from a year earlier. Nitrogen fertilizer prices have climbed 39% and phosphorus fertilizer is up 10%.
    In the eastern Chinese city of Tai’an, the manager of a 35-family cooperative that raises wheat and corn said fertilizer prices have jumped 40% since the start of the year.

  16. So in order to put pressure on gas prices we will relax the summer time E-85 rule and make ethanol this summer from corn, but the price of corn is up nearly 40% .
     
    The dog is chasing it’s tail  and he’s about to catch it.  

  17. BB
    For the the first time in my life, we see a supply side problem. This is what it looks like. We sent out a ton of money during the pandemic, so everybody has extra money. But we put a 100% tariff on Chinese goods, the pandemic hit and caused production and transportation problems. So production was down, demand was up so, so prices went up. Econ 101. But walmart is finding other suppliers that aren’t in China. My $6 tee shirts now come from Jordan. 
    As the bond traders aren’t panicking, T-bill rates are still below 3 % I guess my retirement plan of locking my retirement saving in at 10% ain’t gonna happen.
    Oh well.
    Jack

  18. Lumber is weird, it pays to take you calculator and walk down the aisles.  It just depends on when they stocked it.The other day the 16 ft 1X12 were by the board ft. 1/4 cheaper than the 8ft. 
    As I was going to cut them up for shelving anyway, the cheapest wins. Went back 2 days later and the price had changed, 10 ft 1X10s were the best bargain. 
    Jack 

  20. “Lumber is weird”  
    The definition of that word  is also “inflating ….. 
     
     
    Four days after joining the New Hampshire Republican primary, U.S. Senate hopeful and bitcoin millionaire Bruce Fenton compared the widespread adoration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the reaction to Osama bin Laden, warning that bin Laden was also once seen as a “hero.”
    Fenton spun up the cautionary tale last week in his first televised interview as a candidate, telling WMUR’s Adam Sexton that “there’s so many parallels right now between Ukraine and the Taliban.”
     
    Bitcoin Billionaire  and the price of lumber in KC.
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-sen-candidate-bruce-fenton-compares-volodymyr-zelensky-to-osama-bin-laden
     

  25. Oh crap ,  Gilbert was standing on the shoulders of all those old second bananas, like Mel Blanc on the Jack Benny Show. 
     
    And he did it so well.  He learned from everyone of them. 

  26. Like Strother Martin, he stole every scene he was ever in .
    “What we have here is a failure to communicate”. 
     
    He was championship  diver at Purdue, before he went to Hollywood.  

  28. “solid pine?”

    Yeah, low grade, I picked through it for the fewest knots then cut around them as best I could.
     Works for what I want. As it will tend to warp, I will get a better grade for the glass front door frames.
    Everything is getting painted.
    Jack 

  30. “cancel culture”
     
     
    This really fries my bacon.  We can thank Frank Luntz for this idea of changing words and phrases to new ones that warp the meaning of the old to fit the new way so to exchange their meaning.
     
    Rosa Parks led a “Bus Boycott” to sit anywhere on the bus she wanted,  not a Cancel  movement to  kill the service. 
     
    All of this engineering of buzz words is designed to take your worst fears of a changing world , and stick them in an empty sack with the word “WOKE” on it . Like an old Buggs Bunny Cartoon. 
    WTF does “WOKE” even mean ?  
     

  35. A word about Frank Luntz ……………
     
    Many tears ago  he wrote a memo to the GOP  over the ” Climate   Debate”. 
     
    He told them that “Global Warming” was too scary , and to switch to  “Climate Change”  instead. 
     
    A few years later the GOP  used this as a club to beat a drum that the “greenies” were playing with English. 
     
     
     

  36. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/11/texas-border-inspections-truckers-protest/

    If store shelves are emptier and prices are higher, blame Greg Abbott.

    “The bridge connecting Pharr and Reynosa is the busiest trade crossing in the Rio Grande Valley and handles the majority of the produce that crosses into the U.S. from Mexico, including avocados, broccoli, peppers, strawberries and tomatoes. On Monday, with trucks backed up for miles in Reynosa for the fifth day in a row, some produce importers in Texas said they have waited days for their goods to arrive and already had buyers cancel orders.”

    “While many companies cross perishable foods in refrigerated trucks, Guerra said the bottlenecks could lead to equipment failures that cause produce and other products to spoil in the heat. “Those refrigerated units are powered by diesel,” Guerra said. “These trucks are in line and when the diesel runs out they have no way of refueling.”

    “…DPS inspections duplicate inspections already conducted by the federal government at the ports of entry.”

    “Governor Abbott’s unnecessary secondary inspections are killing business on the border,” Gonzalez said in a written statement to The Texas Tribune. “If this continues it will cause further supply line issues impacting America. And we will see prices of produce and other imports rise at the grocery store.”

    Truckers are fighting back.

    “Mexican news outlets reported that about 500 truckers are blocking southbound traffic into Mexico to prevent the entrance of U.S. trucks.”

  37. Blink –
    Raping  83 year old women  makes me want to go. 
     
    And if one thinks about it , the Russians  are looking for vets going back ten years.  We have a huge pool  those guys.  And the chance to kill Russians  face to face. 
    I for one am OK that this stuff is out there. 
    Our vets  will eat the  Russians  like  store brand  instant oat meal 
     
    One other thing these  are not 90 day wonders  these are very seasoned  men and women getting on these planes. 

  42. OM – if I was forty or fifty years younger I would already have been there.  Veterans are a different crowd than those deer hunting camo wearers. 

  44. President Zelensky praises President Biden for labeling Russian atrocities in Ukraine a “genocide” for the first time: “True words of a true leader @POTUS. Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil. We are grateful for US assistance provided so far and we urgently need more heavy weapons to prevent further Russian atrocities.

  46. We don’t  have to remove  Putin , we just have to take all the bears teeth. 
    As for his nuclear launch codes. Burning down the world is not a “win” for them.  And the men in that chain know it. 

  47. I think every nuclear sub we have should surface  for one min.
    Just so he understands how close we really are.  Not our attack ones . nut the ones that can fry his ass. 
     

  48. The Rise of the Nazi’s  part 2 tonight . 
    PBS 
    Lets all look for our blue prints today. 
    History  does  sometime  repeat , it also rhymes, but it also rips whole pages out of the book.  
     
     

  49. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/12/sid-miller-greg-abbott-border-inspections/

    “Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller called on Gov. Greg Abbott to halt his recent policy of additional commercial inspections at the border, calling the measure “political theater” and predicting it will leave grocery store shelves empty within weeks.”

    “Your inspection protocol is not stopping illegal immigration,” Miller said in his letter. “It is stopping food from getting to grocery store shelves and in many cases causing food to rot in trucks — many of which are owned by Texas and other American companies. … The people of Texas deserve better!”

  50. Also on PBS tonight, Pootin’s war.

    But first, “Finding Your Roots.” The best show on TV.

  51. I have said this for years here as a warning , but today it is a fact .
    \Hell Really is Coming to Breakfast.  And it’s raping 83 year old women before they die. 

  52. wonder when our veteran naval divers coordinate with the ukrainians to make sure those russian supply ships don’t quite make it to shore, creating a new reef in the black sea with a few well-placed goodies that go bang. 

  56. Lie Deny Rinse Repeat 
     
    Lie Deny Rinse Repeat 
    Lie Deny Rinse Repeat 
     
    I learned this years ago in meaningless battles with the deniers.
     
    That whole fossil  funded effort , laid the groundwork of our world
    Just  keep up the fight , and pump , pump, pump. 
     
    The really ironic thing is the world they thought they would own, is going to send us back to wiping our ass with  leaves and grass. If we are lucky , and all that money will mean zip 

  57. The Battle of  the Alamo  2.0.
    If. this doesn’t wake us from our greed , then screw us , screw us all.  We are just a very thin  horizon in a  really fat layer of rocks. 
     
    With no mind to read them.  Just Time 

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