U.S. gasoline prices are rising again.
Goodbye to ‘low’ gas prices
H/T: Calculus of Decay
Tag: BP
Fossil Fuels & Rivalry: US Policymakers’ Addiction to “Great Game” Leads to Violence, Death
The Centre of International Insecurity
The Biden administration is no longer in charge of the White House. Relying on a select network of think-tanks and their corporate proxies, the Big Defense is. What it wants, it seems to get.
The Centre of International Insecurity
Related:
Scott [Horton] is joined by Dan Steinbock to discuss an article he wrote about the network of Democratic organizations running American foreign policy. Steinbock has dug deep into the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and WestExec Advisors, two organizations that have allowed top foreign policy officials to make money cycling between government, think tank and advisory roles. Steinbock also takes a step back and examines how these organizations are connected to weapons companies, Wall Street and technology firms.
6/27/22 Dan Steinbock: How Hawkish Democrats Make Money Pushing War
Biden officials worry their Russia sanctions were so powerful they also brought economic suffering to the US, report says
Corporate ‘Self-Sanctioning’ of Russia Has US Fearing Economic Blowback
But some Biden administration officials are now privately expressing concern that rather than dissuading the Kremlin as intended, the penalties are instead exacerbating inflation, worsening food insecurity and punishing ordinary Russians [they don’t care about the people, the true purpose of sanctions is to encourage people to overthrow their leader] more than Putin or his allies.
…
When the
invasion[special military operation] began, the Biden administration believed that if penalties exempted food and energy [what exemptions?!], the impact on inflation at home would be minimal. Since then, energy and food have become key drivers of the highest US inflation rates in 40 years, a huge political liability for President Joe Biden and the Democratic party heading into November’s mid-term elections [they only care about winning the midterms].…
There’s no sign that administration officials feel their sanctions policy was a mistake or that they want to dial back the pressure. If anything, officials have said a key US goal is to ensure Russia can’t do to other nations what it has done in Ukraine [then tell Puppet Zelensky to negotiate instead of flooding Ukraine with weapons!!].
…
The Biden administration
rejects[denies] any suggestion that sanctions are part of the problem, emphasizing that the US isn’t penalizing humanitarian goods or food, andputting[shifting] the blame on Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine, including by targeting shipping on the Black Sea [which is blocked with mines].…
About 1,000 companies have so far announced that they are curtailing operations in Russia, according to data collected by the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute. That underscores one reason sanctions are so popular with policy makers: They essentially outsource US policy to the private sector [intentional and/or just being lazy?!], which makes it less surgical, less calibrated and less responsive to policy changes, said Smith, the former OFAC adviser.
This becomes important as all sides seek an end to the war [no, they don’t]. The lifting of sanctions can be dangled as an incentive to help bring about a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. But right now it’s hard even to offer that as a potential benefit of entering into negotiations because much of the pullout by American businesses has been self-inflicted [they screwed themselves]. Companies could face public blowback if they are seen as rushing back into the Russian market.
Headline stolen from:
The Paris Review, the Cold War and the CIA
Corporate Interests Are Pushing the Disastrous Idea of a No-Fly Zone
This week, 27 foreign policy experts called for a no-fly zone in Ukraine that would lead to the shooting down of Russian planes — an idea that could lead to a nuclear holocaust. Their message is being bankrolled by arms manufacturers and fossil fuel interests.
Corporate Interests Are Pushing the Disastrous Idea of a No-Fly Zone
Avoiding a climate lockdown
Under a “climate lockdown,” governments would limit private-vehicle use, ban consumption of red meat, and impose extreme energy-saving measures, while fossil-fuel companies would have to stop drilling. To avoid such a scenario, we must overhaul our economic structures and do capitalism differently.
Jeff Bezos says everything will be ok
The climate crisis may be dire, with ever more frequent and increasingly devastating floods and wildfires, with killer droughts and heatwaves across the globe, with oceans warming 40% faster and arctic ice sheets melting 70% faster than had been predicted a mere five years ago, with arctic permafrost melting and belching super-greenhouse methane into the atmosphere, and with carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion continuing to rise year on year regardless.
Jeff Bezos says everything will be ok
Related:
The seeds that led to Islamic Revolution in 1979
Defense Sectary Visits Hawkish Atlantic Council to Announce US Troop Buildup on Russia Border
Defense Sectary Visits Hawkish Atlantic Council to Announce US Troop Buildup on Russia Border
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper visited the notorious Atlantic Council, funded by a who’s who of weapons makers and despotic regimes, to announce that the US would not, indeed, be withdrawing troops from Germany but sending them to Russia’s border instead.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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