From Kabul to Hormuz

 

Very little about Iran on pro-Trump "news site" Breitbart News just now. Sure wonder why. Imagine if Biden had fucked up this hard somewhere in the Greater Middle East, I mean, Breitbart would have been all over the place attacking him for betraying Amerika, sounding almost like bellicose Neo-Cons in the process...

I *know* they would sound like that. Because, you see, they did...in 2021, at the fall of Kabul. But now, radio silence is apparently the more prudent course of action.

Oh, and I sure wonder who negotiated that take-over deal with the Taliban in the first place? Right.

Reformism

 

Reformisterna stretar på. För sista gången: det här fungerar inte. Det är som att säga "om det fanns syre på månen, hade vi kunnat andas där". Det är bara tom utopisk retorik. Reformism, kanske? 

Varje åtgärd Reformisterna förespråkar *förutsätter en industriell struktur baserad på fossila bränslen* - precis de bränslen där det nu råder knapphet. Och de har ingen lösning på hur *det* problemet ska åtgärdas, eftersom alla deras förslag (även om vi antar att de kan genomföras) kräver flera årtionden för att förverkligas, kanske generationer. Lite som Socialiseringsutredningen? 

Det finns bara två alternativ. Ett: fortsätt använda fossila bränslen (och ta konsekvenserna). Två: Sluta använda så mycket energi (och ta konsekvenserna av det istället). Ingen kommer att rösta på alternativ nummer två, eftersom ingen vill bli fattigare. Alltså återstår alternativ ett. Och det som förmodligen kommer att inträffa, är att den moderna civilisationen fortsätter välja alternativ ett, ända tills den kör in i väggen om 50 eller 100 år, och kommer att tvingas över till nummer två istället.

Men om det bara funnits syre på månen, hade vi ju kunnat andas där...  

>>>Och nu måste vi en gång för alla göra upp med kulturkriget mot klimatpolitiken och sätta in kraftfulla insatser för att bli fossilfria. Vi behöver öka produktionen av inhemsk förnybar energi och elektrifiera, stötta folks omställning från fossilbil till elbil, sänka priserna i kollektivtrafiken och utöka tillgängligheten, och se till att industrisatsningar på fossilfritt gödsel, biogas och vätgas skalas upp igen.

Har ni inte läst er egen beredskapsbroschyr?

Geopolitical paranoia

 

Credit: The Fourth Way 

An interesting speculation about Trump´s Iran War. From JMG´s blog.  

>>>Paul, gasoline/petrol at the gas station a block from my apartment is US$3.99 a gallon and there are no shortages. 

>>>I’m pretty sure that the point of the US takeover of Venezuela was to make sure that there would be plenty of Venezuelan tar sand extract to mix with our fracking liquids (you need both to make something roughly approximating gasoline). 

>>>US fossil fuel companies are raking in money like nobody’s business — but then we get almost none of our fuel from the Persian Gulf these days. Nearly all of that goes to Europe and Asia, which are getting hammered. It’s occurred to me more than once that this may be deliberate.

In other words: one of the goals of the recent Mideast war is to put pressure on Europe so it can´t support Ukraine. When Europe sanctioned Russian oil and gas, Qatar and other Mideast providers suddenly became more important. But now, that source is gone, too. Making Europe dependent on American fossil fuels.

But why do pro-Ukrainian politicians such as Lindsey Graham support the Iran war? Didn´t he see this coming? Maybe the anti-European faction "sold" the war to Trump as an anti-European move? While Trump was always aggressive towards the Iranian regime, his prefered strategy during the first presidency was to attack them through black-ops and geopolitical stratagems. John Bolton was fired for wanting to openly attack actual Iranian territory. Maybe he decided to switch to Bolton´s position for very non-Boltonian (and non-Grahamian) reasons.

What if closing the Strait of Hormuz was the plan all along?     

What Zelenskyy doing?

 

Credit: Charles J Sharp 

The irony.

>>>Ukraine is using its drone expertise to help Middle East countries against Iran.

>>>Ukrainian officials are helping five Middle Eastern and Gulf countries counter attacks by Iranian drones, while the United States and European countries have requested support, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday.

>>>Ukraine is also looking into whether it can have a role in restoring security in the Strait of Hormuz amid the Iran war, he said.

>>>Ukraine has become a leading producer of cutting-edge, battle-tested drone interceptors that are cheap and effective in defending against Russia’s full-scale invasion. A Ukrainian official said Ukrainian military specialists are operating in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan.

>>>“Our teams are already working with five countries on countering (Iran’s) ‘Shahed’ drones — we have provided expert assessments and are helping build a defense system,” Zelenskyy said on X.b.

Ukraine is using its expertise to aid 5 countries against Iranian attacks

That was that, then

 

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the European Union stopped buying oil and gas from the former. Well, kind of. One long term project has been to replace Russian fossil fuels with Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) from Qatar. It seems these plans are now essentially fucked, after Iran bombed Qatar´s main LNG production facility. Repairs might take up to five years?! 

Of course, Qatar´s geopolitical multi-vectoralism might be screwed, as well. If Saudi Arabia and the UAE enters the conflict on the American side, how long can Qatar stay outside it? They have, after all, been attacked. And they also have a rather large US military base on their territory...

As far as I can tell, there are two other major providers of LNG. One is the United States, currently under the control of one Donald J Trump. And the other is...Putin´s Russia. Things don´t look well, to be honest. 

Nere för räkning i Gulfregionen

 

Lägg märke till att den här tönten inte heller har någon lösning på problemet. Luftrummet är mycket riktigt stängt, och det råder fullt krig.

Ärligt talat verkar folk ha väldigt märkliga föreställningar om vad UD kan eller inte kan göra i den här typen av situationer. Har varit något av en följetång de senaste 20 åren eller så...

Måste göra mer för strandsatta svenskar

No coke in Doha

 

Jag kan förstå att någon måste mellanlanda i t.ex. Qatar. Som den gamle popparen Dr Alban i artikeln länkad här nedan. Det är svårare att förstå folk som bor på lyxhotell i t.ex. Dubai under en rätt så uppenbar internationell kris i närområdet. Jag menar, varför i all sin dar åker man just *dit* på semestern?!

Dr Alban fast i Doha efter attackerna i Iran

It´s over already

 

That was fast. Canada´s prime minister Carney just declared the "liberal rules-based world order" dead and called on "the middle powers" to build an alternative. This in a speech at Davos. Note the fine print: Canada wants closer relations with China, Qatar and India. What did I tell you, fam. By threatening to dump or attack his allies, Trump is driving them into the hands of America´s geopolitical competitors?!

*Is* he a Manchurian candidate or KGB asset? Probably not, but his foreign politics are increasingly looking even more adventurist than those of the Bush administration! Bush (junior) infamously said "If you´re not for us, you´re against us". Trump´s message seems to be "Even if you´re for us, I´m against you anyway". 

Another fine print: Canada is currently extremely dependent economically on the United States. So is the European Union. It will be...interesting...to see how this chicken race to the bottom ends.  

Canada´s Mark Carney calls on world to adapt to "rupture" caused by "great powers"

QAnon strikes again

 

- Let´s dance, QAnon are funny!

Apparently, some Trump supporters - perhaps worried by the discrepancy between Trump´s "anti-war isolationism" and his war moves against Venezuela - are trying to dust off the old conspiracy theory that the Red regime in Caracas rigged the 2020 elections in Biden´s favor.

In other words: ideas taken from the QAnon cult are being used to justify something I assume most QAnon-ites would usually oppose. Not because they like Maduro, but because they are...you know...isolationist or something.

That being said, given that the Republicans seem to swim in Russian and Qatari money, is it *entirely* impossible that the Dems might have been compromised by some sly Venezuelan operative back in the days? Not really, although I frankly doubt it in this case. It seems Late Stage Empire politics in the United States are super-corrupted and entirely devoid of any principles whatsoever, making it possible for any foreign actor with more gold than scruples to make headway in DC.

Perhaps it´s time for Norway to take one for the team, hand over millions of oil dollars to some suitable political faction in Amerikwa, and make them do *our* bidding for a change? Just being NATO allies apparently doesn´t work anymore...    

Smarta eurokrater

 

Credit: Charles J Sharp

Bojkotten av Ryssland krockar med den gröna agendan. Vem visste? Inte EU, tydligen. USA och deras nya parhäst Qatar protesterar. 

Gasländer till EU: ni måste ändra era regler

Qatari conspiracy

 

Some interesting facts (or perhaps factoids) in these ones. I suppose this could be empirically confirmed if Israel suddenly stops its recent attacks on Hamas in Gaza, or Qatar withdraws its investments if Israel continues...

Is Qatar in NATO now?

Why the Gazacaust ended (summary of the above)

Mission accomplished?

 

What an evening and night (local Swedish time). First, Iran attacks US bases in Iraq and Qatar (sic). Now, Iran and Israel has agreed on a ceasefire, to begin in six hours?! In other words: instead of a prolonged war, the whole thing is more like the Israeli attack on the Iraqi nuclear power plant Osirak in 1981. 

If this works, the fallout within "MAGA" might be interesting. Many on the far right of the Trump movement freaked out. Others left the Trump train (for the nth time in some cases). And Trump, you know, doesn´t like disloyalty...

The ride never ends. 

My blogging just took a very strange turn

 

What is a robot or robotic jockey in camel racing?

A robotic jockey is a small remote-controlled device used to replace human jockeys in camel racing. Here's how it works and why it was introduced:

---

What is a robotic jockey?

• It’s a lightweight robot mounted on the camel’s back.

• The robot is equipped with:

  • A whip mechanism (usually a soft padded whip) to encourage the camel to run faster.

  • A speaker or device to issue commands.

• The robot is controlled remotely by the camel’s trainer or handler from the sidelines using radio signals.

---

Why robotic jockeys?

• Historically, camel racing in places like the Middle East used young boys as jockeys, some as young as 4 or 5 years old.

• Due to child labor concerns, safety, and international pressure, many countries banned the use of child jockeys.

• Robotic jockeys were developed as a humane and ethical alternative.

• They allow the sport to continue while protecting children and improving animal welfare.

---

Benefits of robotic jockeys:

• Eliminates child exploitation.

• Provides consistent control over camels.

• Can be programmed or adjusted remotely for better performance.

• Reduces risks of injury to jockeys.

---

Where are robotic jockeys used?

• Mainly in Gulf countries like the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

• The technology is continuously improving for better control and reliability.

---

If you want, I can share videos or more technical details about how robotic jockeys work!

Vive la République

 

French secular liberals attack Islamism. Surprise! Communists have objections. No surprise? 

Let´s see for how long this works. Qatar supports the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar sells LNG. The European Union needs LNG. You know, that kind of thing.

Maybe it all comes down to how much money the EU are willing to pay the Emirate...  

France wants to ban the veil in wake of Islamist plot

Next level

 

 

Regardless of what you think of Trump´s foreign policy, this is some kind of next level sycophancy from his hardcore followers. I assumed these guys were pro-Israeli and anti-Muslim? But listen to them know...

From Breitbart News.  

Berufsverbot

 

There is a certain irony in this, obviously....

Palestinian Authority suspends Al Jazeera TV channel in the West Bank 

The Goblin Shark feat. Marvin

 

"The best cryptid evidence" doesn´t strike me as very "cryptid". Note that the Patterson-Gimlin film of Bigfoot fame isn´t included in this survey. All animals featured (except maybe Marvin) seem to belong to known and currently extant taxa. So-called cryptozoologists don´t really care - they want to find a giant ape-man, a surviving dinosaur, or something to that effect. 

So it seems the Patterson-Gimlin film is unique, being the only good footage of an *actual* cryptid (i.e. a monster). But it´s precisely it´s singular character that makes it so hard to believe...   

Matt Gaetz, come back, all is forgiven

 

What the fuck is this??? 

Michael Tracey´s tweet on Pam Bondi

Säkerhetsrisk

 

En ny "LVU-kampanj" mot Sverige verkar ha igångsatts c/o al-Jazeera (som är godkända av regimen i Qatar). Både SVT och Aftonbladet tillbakavisar anklagelserna. Det finns en intressant skillnad mellan artiklarna, men den är antagligen irrelevant i *detta* sammanhang, så ni får hitta den själva...

Annars väcks ju frågan: kan Sverige blockera al-Jazeera?   

Ny dokumentär anklagar Sverige

Oro för en ny LVU-kampanj efter al-Jazeera-dokumentär

Message recieved

 

Challenge accepted!  

"We don´t want a ceasefire, we want ongoing war"